14 Dec, 2012
Family Advent Day 12 – Butter Beer and Harry Potter
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Easy ways to make kids happy|Recipes and Food
We’re big Harry Potter fans around Casa Fishbowl. We read ALL the books as a family one chapter at a time. And when we finished, my youngest picked them up and started from the beginning. We’ve seen a bunch of the movies at the theatre and bought the DVDs, and even went to Toronto to see the Harry Potter exhibit when it was at the Science Centre awhile back. Sooner than later I’d love to take the family to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. (Here’s a link, doesn’t it look awesome?)
Harry Potter is a children’s story yet it appeals to the inner child in many of us. Wouldn’t you love to visit Zonko’s Joke shop? Ride a broomstick or a Hippogriff? Become friends with a giant? Or have a Marauder’s Map of your own? (“Mischief managed!”) Unfortunately, all of these things are impossible because we are mere muggles who don’t live in a magical world. All we can do is immerse ourselves in the books and movies… and drink butter beer.
I was particularly pleased with this advent activity.
This is the butter beer recipe I used.
My advice to you if you want to make it:
- Make the butterscotch base the day before – or earlier in the day – so it thickens properly.
- I personally wouldn’t use the rum extract that the recipe calls for.
- Don’t omit the salt.
- Top your finished butter beer with unsweetened whipped cream. This recipe will send you into a sugar shock so you really don’t need to add extra sugar to the cream. Whip the cream it until it can be whipped no more. You want it peaky and gorgeous.
- We made it with root beer (not cream soda). The kids, of course, LOVED it.
- Small servings suffice. See above about the sugar shock.
We enjoyed our butter beers while watching one of the HP movies. It was very fun. In fact, I might keep this one on the list for next year. :)
This post is part of our 2012 Family Advent, a.k.a. 25 Days of Christmas. You can read more about that here. Looking for some Christmas-related activities to try out yourself? Check out my Pinterest board.
