These Harry Potter cupcakes are a magical treat for Hogwarts fans. Each butterbeer cupcake hides a surprise filling of red, green, blue or yellow candy drops - representing each Hogwarts houses - tucked beneath a swirl of butterbeer buttercream. Bite in to reveal your house in the most delicious way!
How about a creamy white chocolate hot chocolate for children or a mug of bourbon-spiked drinking caramel for the grown-ups?
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Why I love these cupcakes
- Fun: Each cupcake contains a hidden surprise for the recipient - the colour inside reveals which house the lucky eater belongs to: Gryffindor (red), Slytherin (green), Huffelpuff (yellow) or Ravenclaw (blue). They are guaranteed to make fans smile or gaffaw.
- Flavour: Butterbeer - surely the best flavour for any sweet treat based on Harry Potter to possess?
- Great texture: These easy Harry Potter cupcakes have a light, soft & fluffy sponge and come topped with a luxurious, silky smooth butterbeer buttercream frosting.
- Themed: The flavour and presentation will delight Harry Potter fans.
- Made from scratch: There's no need to go hunting for difficult to find, ingredients like butterbeer soda or butterscotch chips.
- Deceptively easy: Despite sounding complex, these cakes are easy and simple to make. Each step in the process is straightforward.
- Customisable: These Harry Potter themed cupcakes can be easily adapted to suit your own style of presentation (see my decoration ideas further down in this post).
- Adaptable: For those less inclined towards butterbeer but still keen to enjoy some Hogwarts related fun these Harry Potter house cupcakes can also be made using your favourite vanilla cupcake or chocolate cupcake recipe.
Jump to:
Let me get straight to the point. Harry Potter cupcakes are the epitome of edible fun. They are guaranteed to get excitement levels up for any Harry Potter fan (even adults). What could be more fun than biting into your Harry Potter themed cupcake, discovering you have been placed in your favourite house (or not) and then comparing how your friends have fared.
These easy Harry Potter cupcakes are a brilliant choice for serving up at a birthday party or Halloween celebration during spooky season. You can alternatively call them sorting hat cupcakes, Hogwarts cupcakes, Harry Potter house cupcakes or butterbeer cupcakes.
Need something a little quicker to pull together - try fairy cakes or a vanilla traybake cake.
No detail was forgotten! These cupcakes are incredible!!!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Liz
What is a Butterbeer Cupcake?
Butterbeer, famously served at The Leaky Cauldron in the Harry Potter stories, is described as tasting like butterscotch and cream soda. Inspired by this, I transformed my Harry Potter cupcakes into the ultimate themed treat for Hogwarts fans: butterbeer cupcakes. To do this I did several things:
- For the sponge cakes: I swapped regular caster sugar for brown sugar to impart that signature buttery-caramel butterscotch flavour into the actual cake. A hint of vanilla and the use of real butter (not margarine) further accentuate that rich, buttery flavour profile.
- For the buttercream: I whipped homemade butterscotch sauce into classic vanilla buttercream. The result is smooth, creamy and lusciously buttery. It does cause happy sighs.
How to decorate these butterbeer cakes is up to you, but a little butterscotch sauce can also be used to garnish the top of each cake, boostng the butterbeer flavour even further.
Ingredients notes
Sugar: Light brown sugar in the cupcakes add subtle undertones of butterscotch to the flavour of these cakes.
Butter: Use real butter in the cake batter and whin the butterscotch sauce. Baking margarine is not a suitable substitute.
Cream: The butterscotch sauce required double cream, which is 48% fat. If you are outside of the UK make sure you use a cream with an equivalent fat content.
Golden syrup: This is another key ingredient in the sauce. It's quite a unique flavour but it can be difficult to get hold of outside of the UK. An acceptable substitute would be light corn syrup but do not use maple syrup or honey.
Candy melts: These are a convenient way to create a colour-stable set of candy pieces for filling the cakes. Whilst they do make a fun pinâta style cake, they are not the cheapest, so feel free to substitute sweets if you are not as picky about colour leakage from them as I am or use coloured buttercream instead.
Step by step instructions
Full instructions and measurements are given in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
This looks like a lengthy recipe but I promise you that each step is easy to make and I've given time estimates for each section to help guide you:
Make the butterscotch (approx 5 minutes)
- Step 1: Put all ingredients (except the vanilla extract) into a pan and cook gently until the sugar has dissolved.
- Step 2: Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 2 minutes then take the pan off the heat & stir in the vanilla extract. Let cool and then refrigerate for several hours.
Make the house drops (approx 20 minutes)
- Step 3: Melt one colour of the Candy Melts in a bowl according to pack instructions then transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a small circular nozzle (I used a Wilton 7). Pipe small drops (3-5mm) onto baking parchment. Leave to set.
- Step 4: Repeat step 3 for the remaining colours (ensure you wash and dry your piping bag and nozzle very well to avoid colour contamination).
Make the cupcakes (approx 15 minutes plus baking time)
- Step 5: Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Briefly mix the eggs in a jug and gradually add a little at a time into the creamed butter & sugar, beating well in between each addition (to reduce the risk of the batter splitting).
- Step 6: Add the vanilla extract and milk, beat again then sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. Gently fold it in, until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Take care not to overwork the batter though.
- Step 7: Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake cases and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden and baked through. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
Mix the buttercream (approx 10 minutes)
- Step 8: Put the butter into a medium bowl and beat until smooth and soft then sieve in the icing sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat well between each addition.
- Step 9: Beat the vanilla extract and half of the butterscotch sauce into the buttercream (use more butterscotch for a stronger flavour (if you buttercream is holding its shape well) but leave around ¼ of the sauce to drizzle over the cakes as decoration).
Assemble the butterbeer cupcakes (approx 20 minutes)
- Step 8: Cut a cavity into the centre of each cupcake. Fill each cavity with either red, yellow, green or blue candy melt drops.
- Step 9: Cover with a generous swirl of butterbeer flavoured buttercream. Drizzle with butterscotch sauce and garnish as desired (see below for suggestions).
Decorating suggestions
I was researching Harry Potter cupcake ideas when I came across a tutorial for making chocolate coins from wax seal stamps. Oh, sweet joy, my daughter received a pair of Harry Potter wax seals one Christmas. I was in business.
However, there are plenty of other ways to decorate these Harry Potter themed cupcakes:
- Pick up a pack of Hogwarts House Crest cake toppers (or make your own flags and attach them to cocktail sticks).
- Alternatively top with a molded caramel sorting hat.
- Or go simple with glitter or sprinkles with a drizzle of butterscotch sauce for the ultimate easy Harry Potter butterbeer cupcake.
Of course, you can easily find fun Hogwarts themed cupcake cases/ wrappers and decorations to purchase in cake decorating stores and online to finish off your Harry Potter themed cupcakes in easy style.
Expert tips
- Use digital scales and gram measures for accuracy - cups vary in size and filling method, making them unreliable.
- You can use self-raising flour instead of plain flour. Remember to omit the baking powder if you do.
- Don't worry if the cake batter splits after egg is added. Once the flour is folded in the batter will look much better and it will still bake well.
- This recipe makes 12 cupcakes (standard UK size). Ensure you use cupcake wrappers rather than fairy cake wrappers as these are too small for these cakes.
- Make the butterscotch sauce well ahead of time: It does need to cool and chill prior to being added to the buttercream - it keeps well for up to one week in the fridge.
- This recipe makes 3 cupcakes for each house colour. To make more/ less of particular houses you will need to increase/ decrease the amount of candy drops used as required.
Frequently asked questions
Once assembled these Harry Potter themed cupcakes are best stored at room temperature and eaten within 3 days. It is not necessary to refrigerate them.
I do not recommend this. The colouring from the sugar shell on sweets often bleeds into the cake. Candy melts don't do this, so the cakes look perfect when bitten into, even after a few days.
Yes, you can. Using coloured buttercream to fill the centre of each Hogwarts cupcake is a great option if you are on a budget, cannot find Candy Melts in all four colours or if you are short on time.
I have discovered that certain colours melt easier than others. But I recently found a label on one of the bags that informed me that if necessary I could add a few drops of vegetable oil to the bowl and mix it in to help the candy melts reach the right consistency. It worked well. I prefer melting them using a Bain-Marie as they were prone to burning and seizing up in the microwave.
These cupcakes need significant adjustment to make them vegan, but it is possible:
1. First of all, make a vegan butterscotch sauce and some vegan cupcakes.
2. Next make some vegan vanilla buttercream and mix some of the (chilled) butterscotch sauce into it (vegan buttercream can be softer than regular buttercream, so add the sauce gradually and stop before the buttercream gets too loose to pipe and hold its shape).
3. Finally, Candy Melts are not vegan, so you will need to source an alternative product or fill your cupcakes with coloured vegan buttercream.
It's certainly possible to make these Harry Potter house cupcakes gluten-free. Simply make some gluten-free vanilla cupcakes and ensure that your icing sugar is gluten-free before making the buttercream (not all of it is). The other point to note is that Candy Melts may contain gluten so they must not be used. Either use coloured buttercream inside each cupcake or find some suitable sweets to use.
Certainly. Doing so will turn them into butterbeer cupcakes - a particularly easy Harry Potter themed cupcake to make.
More Harry Potter cupcake ideas
You can use this butterbeer cupcake recipe (minus the Candy Melt filling) to make a variety of other Harry Potter themed cupcakes:
- Hedwig the Owl cupcakes
- Golden Snitch cupcakes
- Make you own broomsticks for broomstick cupcakes.
- Make your own chocolate frogs for Honeydukes chocolate frog cupcakes.
And away from cupcakes don't miss these two fabulous Happy Potter themed birthday cakes:
- Hagrid's Happee Birthdae Harry cake (avoid Hagrid's trick of sitting on it though)
- Aunt Petunia's pudding cake
More bakes for Halloween parties
Have you made these easy Harry Potter cupcakes? How did you get along - feel free to leave a rating and/or comment below to let me know. And do take a photo and tag me on Instagram (@jane_littlesugarsnaps) so I can see how you decided to decorate them.
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📖 Recipe
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Harry Potter Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Brown Sugar Cupcakes
- 125 g Unsalted utter softened
- 125 g Light brown sugar
- 2 Eggs (large, free range)
- 2 tablespoons Whole milk (full fat)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 125 g Plain flour (all purpose)
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
For the Butterscotch Sauce
- 60 ml Double cream (heavy cream)
- 50 g Light brown sugar
- 30 g Unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon Golden syrup (light corn syrup)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
For the Butterbeer Buttercream
- 300 g Unsalted butter softened
- 200 g Icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 Batch Butterscotch sauce (listed above)
For the Coloured Drops
- 30 g Red candy melts
- 30 g Green candy melts
- 30 g Blue candy melts
- 30 g Yellow candy melts
Decoration - your choice of sprinkles, chocolate coins, molded caramel hats or paper flags
Instructions
Make the Butterscotch Sauce
- Put all ingredients except the vanilla extract into a small, heavy based pan, and cook over a low-medium heat until the sugar has dissolved (stirring frequently60 ml Double cream, 50 g Light brown sugar, 30 g Unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon Golden syrup, ¼ teaspoon Salt
- Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 2 minutes
- Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and set aside to cool completely, then refrigerate for several hours1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Make the House Drops
- Melt the red candy melts, put into a piping bag fitted with a small circular nozzle and pipe small drops (3-5mm) onto baking parchment. Leave to set30 g Red candy melts
- Repeat for the remaining colours (ensure you wash and dry your piping bag and nozzle very well to avoid colour contamination).30 g Green candy melts, 30 g Blue candy melts, 30 g Yellow candy melts
Make the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven 170C/ 325F/ GM3 and line a cupcake tray with paper cake cases
- Using electric beaters, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy125 g Unsalted utter, 125 g Light brown sugar
- Briefly mix the eggs in a jug and gradually add a teaspoon at a time into the creamed butter & sugar, beating well in between each addition (adding the egg really slowly reduces the risk of the mix splitting)2 Eggs
- Add the vanilla extract and milk then beat again2 tablespoons Whole milk, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and gently fold in until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Take care not to overwork the batter though125 g Plain flour, 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- Divide between the cupcake cases - filling each case around ⅔ full - and bake for approximately 20 minutes
- Test that the cupcakes are baked through: poke a cocktail stick into one of the cakes - if it comes out clean then the cakes are ready. If not, return to the oven for a couple more minutes, then test again
- Once out of the oven remove from the baking tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack
For the Butterbeer Buttercream
- Put the butter into a medium bowl and beat until smooth and soft300 g Unsalted butter
- Sieve in the icing sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beat well between each addition200 g Icing sugar
- Once all of the icing sugar has been mixed in, beat in the vanilla extract1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- Spoon the butterscotch sauce into the buttercream and beat in (use less butterscotch for a subtler flavour and leave a little sauce aside if you intend to drizzle some over the cakes as decoration)1 Batch Butterscotch sauce
Assemble the cakes
- When ready to assemble cut a small cone from the middle of each cake (see my image)
- Fill 3 cakes with red candy drops, 3 with green and so on
- Put the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a suitable nozzle (I used Wilton C4) and pipe the buttercream onto the cakes, ensuring that the coloured drops are completely covered up
- Add your choice of decoration
These cakes keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container
Notes
- Use digital scales and gram measures for accuracy - cups vary in size and filling method, making them unreliable.
- You can use self-raising flour instead of plain flour. Remember to omit the baking powder if you do.
- Don't worry if the cake batter splits after egg is added. Once the flour is folded in the batter will look much better and it will still bake well.
- This recipe makes 12 cupcakes (standard UK size). Ensure you use cupcake wrappers rather than fairy cake wrappers as these are too small for these cakes.
- Make the butterscotch sauce well ahead of time: It does need to cool and chill prior to being added to the buttercream - it keeps well for up to one week in the fridge.
- This recipe makes 3 cupcakes for each house colour. To make more/ less of particular houses you will need to increase/ decrease the amount of candy drops used as required.
- Replace the Candy Melt drops with coloured vanilla buttercream if desired.
Lauren says
As an Aussie, Golden Syrup is a staple. However, I wasn't easily able to find it (or treacle) when living in Canada and I desperately wanted ANZAC biscuits to cure my homesickness. I found molasses a suitable alternative which you may like to add to your recipe.
Jane Coupland says
Hi Lauren, thanks for your comment. I would suggest corn syrup as a good alternative to golden syrup, however, molasses, as I know them, have a much stronger flavour and darker colour than either golden syrup or corn syrup, so I'm not convinced it would be quite right for this recipe. Unless there's a different type of molasses I've not come across??
Gina Sabo says
Hi, I will be using store bought butterscotch sauce. Do you know about how many ounces your recipe for the sauce makes?
Jane Coupland says
Hi Gina, that's an excellent question. Looking at the list of ingredients, you'll need to add in around 125-150g of butterscotch sauce to the buttercream. Go with the lower amount the taste and add more if you faancy it. I hope that helps (I'll be making a note of the precise amount it makes next time I make these - they are still popular with my now significantly older children... one is now an adult).
Lunna says
muito perfeitooos, salvaram meu trabalho sobre hp kkk
Jane Saunders says
Thankyou - so pleased you liked them!
Jo says
I got Slytherin - humph!! However, the cake was very worth it!!
Jane Saunders says
😐 Better luck next time!
Juno says
I'm a slytherin?
Jane Saunders says
🙂 I'm happy if I'm a Hufflepuff but one of my daughters doesn't mind being Slytherin
georgie says
as a harry potter fan, these are probably the damn coolest cupcakes I ever seen!!!! i freaking LOVE them!
Jane Saunders says
Thank you soooo much Georgie. You'd better have a party so you can bake some ASAP>
monique says
I ordered a stamp as soon as I saw your lovely IG post:)!I have made choco seals but never HP..Brilliant and THANK YOU..
You should have won♥
Jane Saunders says
You have to take some pictures too Monique - I'll be looking out for them.
And thankyou - maybe next year. Every year I don't win it makes me push myself that bit harder.
April says
These are adorable and sounds like you've taken great steps to get the recipe just right!
Jane Saunders says
Thanks April.
Liz says
No detail was forgotten! These cupcakes are incredible!!!
Jane Saunders says
I hope so! Thanks Liz.