Last weekend I had a little Pumpkin Carving Party at my place, and I had lots of baking ideas after seeing Halloween Treats on all my favourite blogs.

But first we have to address the HP factor of this blog post. Is there really enough room here to express my love for Harry Potter? You likely know me if you’re reading this and are well aware of it, so I don’t think we need to get into it too much. The first part of the 7th movie comes out in two weeks and we have our tickets already.

If by some chance you haven’t read any of the books or seen any of the movies, and have been living under a rock since the late 1990s, all you need to know about Butterbeer is that it’s a drink that Harry and his friends have.  Do we need talk about how J.K. Rowling is such a genious that she nailed every detail of Harry’s wizarding world right down to the drinks?

I could go on forever, so let’s just move on. I can’t take credit for this; it was all Nick’s idea. He showed up with apple cider, caramels, mulling spices and cream soda and got to work. Turns out Butterbeer is foamy, sweet and delicious, just like drinking warm apple pie. The recipe says you can also make an adult version by adding a shot of Apple Brandy – I say Goldschlager would add a nice cinnamony buzz, plus it’s super fun to say Goldschlager.

Aside from Butterbeer, I made Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting, and had fun decorating them using this post as inspiration.

Remember those Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes I made for my birthday? I had about two dozen of the Cookie Dough Centres left over, so I dunked them in some melted dark chocolate and squiggled some melted orange candy melts over top. I used a squeeze bottle for this which in retrospect was super annoying and messy – next time I would just use a plastic baggie with the corner snipped off.

These were my favourite treats I have made in a long time, and I ate way too many. Kristine liked them better cold from the fridge, and I agree.

Here’s a picture of the guys lighting the jack-o-lanterns, and Lydia holding back Ethan from lighting himself on fire:

I also made some different treats to share with my co-workers – those are coming next!

Butterbeer

Source: The Go Lightly Gourmet 

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter

3 cups unfiltered apple cider

10-12 caramels

3 tbsp mulling spices (cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, nutmeg), wrapped in cheesecloth and tied with kitchen string

1L bottle cream soda (the clear kind – if you use pink the colour won’t be right)

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the apple cider, caramels and mulling spices. Stir frequently so the caramels melt but don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
2. When caramels are melted, take out the mulling spices and add the cream soda. Stir again until Butterbeer is warm.
3. Add a shot of something naughty if you want.

This makes enough for about six drinks.