Starbucks' Butter Beer Frappuccino

     I recently posted about trying a Butter Beer Latte from Starbucks' Secret Menu, well here is the Frappuccino version.  I found this recipe too on the Starbucks Secret Menu, you should order one on your next visit to Starbucks.

This is for a Grande 
Start with a Creme Frappuccino base (I used the vanilla bean one) - DO NOT skimp on the milk, you want to use whole milk for this one. 3 pumps caramel syrup 3 pumps toffee nut syrup Top with whip cream Drizzle with caramel syrup
* Adjust the recipe based on size or the preference of sweetness you like *
Stick a straw in it and ENJOY!

Starbucks' Harry Potter Butter Beer Latte

     So recently I have discovered that Starbucks has a secret menu.  Thanks Pinterest!  If you are not aware of this, like most people, you NEED to look it up!  There are tons of secret drink recipes waiting for you to try.  One of my favorites is the Butter Beer Latte!  If you want to try one for yourself, here is how you order....

     DO NOT go up to the barista and ask for a Grande Butter Beer.  She will look at you like you're crazy.  For one it's not on the menu, Secret Menu remember?, and two, she probably doesn't know how to make it.  So, the solution....just tell her what you want by listing the ingredients.  It makes it so much easier for them to make.  I had them ask me a few times what they were making, when I told them they were surprised and sometimes thanked me, because now they know how to make one.  I've listed all the ingredients and amounts for you.

Recipe from the  Starbucks Secret Menu

This is for a GRANDE

Whole Milk Steamer - don't skimp on the milk, you really want the whole milk!

3 pumps Caramel Syrup (2 pumps for Tall, 4 pumps for Venti)

3 pumps Toffee Nut Syrup (2 pumps for Tall, 4 pumps for Venti)

3 pumps Cinnamon Dolce Syrup (2 pumps for Tall, 4 pumps for Venti)

Whipped Cream

Caramel Drizzle or Creme Brûlée topping

* If you want to add coffee, which sometimes I do, 1 shot expresso for Tall, 2 shots for Grande, 3 for Venti*

     After trying this, it has become one of my favorite go to drinks there!  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Golden Snitches, Chocolate Frogs, and Butter Beer Mustaches....

     October is one of my favorite months....pumpkin picking, hay rides, spooky decorations, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, fall festivals, costumes, Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes, and of course festive movies.  Which to me includes Harry Potter!  I am a huge Potter Head!  So I invited a few friends over, whipped up some Harry Potter snacks, and we watched "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2."  It was a lot of fun bringing one of my favorite movies to life in my table scape and food!  All my friends had a great time and left full of tasty treats and Butter Beer mustaches!

Got to represent the houses.  

(The Griffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff Banners are from Amazon)

See my Dementor in the corner??  (This is one of my Halloween decorations)

Hagrid says to just "follow the spiders...."

(Some spiders from the Dollar Tree, others from Walmart)

I made some floating candles like in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". (They are made out of toilet and paper towel rolls that I painted and wrapped around a plastic a LED tea light I got from the Dollar Store. I glued it with hot glue.  Then used more hot glue around the tea light and let it drip down.  After it dried I painted the cooled drippy hot glue to look like dripping wax.  Then I used fishing line to hang them) 

I found some fun candies I thought HoneyDukes would've carried.

(The scarf, wand, and glasses are from the Spirit Halloween Store, 

the Apothecary Jars are from Amazon)

Dumbledore's favorite...Lemon Drops

Some Chocolate Licorice Wands

And my version of Fizzing Whizzbees, but really just some fizzing gum balls.

Hedwig guarding the Golden Snitch Truffles

Mischief Managed....

Downloaded the Marauder's Map from Sweet & Simple, 

then had it printed on light tan paper, then I crinkled it a bit to make it look aged.

There's the other two houses' banners.

Are you Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin...let the Sorting Hat decide.

(The hat is from Amazon)

Now on to the snacks....

The Food Label Cards & Mug Labels I downloaded and printed from Sweet & Simple.

How about a tall glass of Pumpkin Juice

Or a warm mug of Butter Beer

Or a frosty mug of Butter Beer

To go with those delicious drinks, I made some Cornish Pastries.

How about trying some Polyjuice Potion...

(Just queso & chips)

These Pumpkin Pasties were amazing!

There were excellent the next day for breakfast with a cup of tea.

We had to try Harry's favorite dessert, Treacle Tarts

Enjoy one of these Snitch Truffles, that's if you can catch one first!

(These are just Ferrero Rocher chocolates with velum paper wings taped to the tops.)

We had to have some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans which I put in these awesome boxes that I downloaded from WizardShack then had printed at Office Max.

 

Who could forget when the chocolate frog jumped out the box and onto the window....

I made my own with the Chocolate Frog Mold I got from Amazon. 

Then put them in these downloaded and printed Chocolate Frog Boxes.

After all my guests had left, I took off my Griffindor Shoes, 

grabbed another warm mug of Butter Beer and a few snacks, 

then popped in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" into the Blu Ray.

(My Griffindor Pajama Pants are from Hot Topic, my socks from the Halloween Spirit Store)

It was another fun movie night with the girls!

Can't wait for the next one!

Tasty Treacle Tarts

     One of Harry Potter's favorite desserts is Treacle Tart...what might you ask is a treacle tart?  I often wondered myself.  So I found a recipe and made one for me and my friends for movie night.  It was actually really tasty.  Thinking I will probably be making it again!

Recipe from Adventures in Cooking

What you need:

Crust

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp water

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Filling

2 egg yolks

1 cup Golden Syrup

2/3 cup Plain Breadcrumbs (I used this recipe but omitted the oregano)

1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted)

1 Tbsp milk

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp fresh lemon mice

1/4 tsp ground ginger

How to make them:

Preheat the oven to 400˚F.

Mix the dry ingredients for the crust together in a large bowl, then cut the butter into pea-sized pieces.

Add the water and mix together with your hands until a dough forms.

Line a 9 x 9 inch tart pan with the dough and set aside.

Gently warm up the golden syrup by placing the tin canister in a small pot of water, 2 inches high, over low heat for 5 minutes (make sure the lid of the canister is open).

Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, ginger, and lemon zest until well combined. 

Make a little well in the middle and add the egg yolks, golden syrup, lemon juice, butter, and milk.

Mix the ingredients together until well blended.

Pour the treacle filling into the tart pan and bake for 30 minutes or until top of the treacle is just beginning to show a hint of browning in some spots.

Allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving, then ENJOY!

Plump Pumpkin Pasties

     As for some desserts for my Harry Potter movie night, why not have some Pumpkin Pasties like they do in the movie?  So here ya go...these were really good.  They taste similar to pumpkin pie, one of my favorite holiday treats! 

Recipe from Better in Bulk

What you need:

2 eggs (room temperature, slightly beaten)

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups puree canned pumpkin

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp all spice

1 2/3 cups evaporated milk (1 can)

Pie dough (I used Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust)

How to make them:

Preheat the oven to 425˚F.

Mix all the ingredients except for pie crust in a large bowl.

Place filling into a casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes.

Leaving the baking dish in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350˚F and bake the filling for an additional 45 minutes.

Take out and cool the baked filling.

Adjust oven temperate back up to 425˚F.

Meanwhile, prepare and roll out the pie crust dough.

Cut pie crust into circle.

Place a spoonful of the cooled filling in the center of each circle (the amount of filing that is put into the circles will depend on the size.  Just don't put too much filling, otherwise the crusts can't be pressed together).

Pinch the edges closed, then make 2-3 small slits in each pie.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust is light golden brown.

Take out and let cool slightly, then ENJOY!

Polyjuice Potion

    Another snack I put out with this Poly Juice Potion.  It's actually just Queso and Chips.  Something simple yet yummy to enjoy while watching our movie!

Recipe from Inspired Craft Ideas

What you need:

3/4 lb lean ground beef (browned and drained)

2 lbs block of Velveeta (cubed)

2 10oz cans Rotel (original, mild, or hot, drained)

1 7oz can diced, roasted  green chilies

How to make it:

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot.

Melt on low heat until smooth (about 2-3 hours) or on high for about 1 hour.

Once melted, keep crockpot on low.

Serve with tortilla chips and ENJOY!

Cornish Pastries to Cherish

    As for a something to accompany the yummy Pumpkin Juice & Butter Beers, I decided to make these oh so tasty Cornish Pastries.  They were the perfect savory pie one could con jour up!

Recipe from Serious Eats

What you need:

pie crust (I used Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust)

1 TBsp unsalted butter

1 small onion (finely chopped)

1 small leek (finely chopped)

1/2 lb hanger steak (chopped into small bite size pieces)

1 parsnip (finely chopped)

1 potato (finely chopped)

1 carrot (finely chopped)

2 springs fresh thyme (chopped)

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg (beaten)

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Melt butter in skillet, add onion and leek, cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a bowl combine steak, parsnip, potato, carrot, and thyme, toss to combine.

Once onion and leeks are cool, add to the mixture and mix.

Season with salt and pepper.

Roll out dough into 1/4 inch thick sheet.

Cut into 4 circles about 5 inches across (if all circles cannot be cut out of initial sheet of dough, re-roll pastry and cut out remaining circles if necessary).

Spoon enough filling mixture into one half of the pastry circle, but not too much that it will not seal.

Brush the edges with beaten egg and fold the other half over the filling.

Seal by pressing gently with a fork or fingers.

Place on prepare baking sheet and repeat with remaining pastry and filing.

Brush all pastries with the beaten egg.

Place in the oven, when pastry begins to brown, turn the temperature down to 350˚F and bake for additional 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Serve and ENJOY!

Brillant Butter Beer

     Who can resist a mug of some warm Butter Beer?  Or maybe a chilled mug of Butter Beer? So of course, I had to make both recipes for my movie goers.  I have also come to love the Starbucks' Butter Beer Lattes that I have found on their secret menu.  Here's the link if you want to order one for yourself to try: Hot Butter Beer Latte or Butter Beer Frappuccino.

What you need:

Froth-

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar (sifted)

1 tsp Butterscotch flavored Jell-O Instant Pudding Mix

How to make it:

In a bowl of an electric mixer, combine all ingredients.

Whisk using whisk attachment, until soft peaks form and it resembles whipped cream.

Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.

Recipe from The Disney Diner

Hot Butter Beer

What you need:

6 cups whole milk

6 TBsp butterscotch flavored sundae syrup

10-12 drops of yellow food coloring

1 (4 oz size) Butterscotch flavored Jell-O Instant Pudding Mix (minus the 1 tsp used in froth)

Prepared froth

How to make it:

Pour 6 cups of milk into a medium-sized saucepan place over medium-high heat.

Add in the butterscotch syrup and food coloring.

Mix in the butterscotch pudding mix.

Stir well until lumps are gone.

Keep stirring until pudding has dissolved and liquid is hot, but not scalding.

Ladle into mugs.

Top with a dollop of prepared froth, then ENJOY!

Recipe from The Disney Diner Cold Butter Beer
What you need:
Cream soda (chilled) 1-2 tsp butterscotch flavored sundae syrup (per mug) Prepared froth How to make it:
Pour the chilled cream soda into your mug, leaving about 1 once at the top for the froth. Add in the 1-2 teaspoons of the butterscotch syrup and stir well to incorporate. Top it off with the prepare froth, then ENJOY!

Perfect Pumpkin Juice

     Since Halloween was just last month, I wanted to host a fun festive Halloween-ish movie night with some friends.  So what better than a Harry Potter movie??  With that being said, I couldn't host a party without serving up some Pumpkin Juice to my guests!  It is my new favorite drink!  (I even order it at Starbucks!  Here's the recipe if you ever want to get one for yourself, they are AMAZING! Even my daughter loves them!  Harry Potter Pumpkin Juice)

Recipe modified from The Disney Diner

What you need:

1 jug of Simply Apple Juice

1 cup canned pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

How to make it:

Pour apple juice into a pitcher of a blender.

Add in canned pumpkin, apricot preserves, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Blend on high until well incorporated.

Pour into a serving pitcher.

Pour into glasses and ENJOY!