Enjoy any special occasion and impress muggles with these moan-worthy Harry Potter vegan cupcakes! In honor of the famous wizarding drink, these butterbeer cupcakes are simple to make and do not require any artificial ingredients.
First begin by making the vegan cupcakes (click here for recipe; instructions for vanilla cupcakes are included in the "allergy-info & substitutions" section of the post). Make sure the cupcakes are COMPLETELY COOLED before frosting. I like to make the cupcakes the night before and refrigerate them, to break up the time + make sure they are cooled, but you can just pop them in the refrigerator for an hour if need be.
To make the frosting, start with making butterscotch sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat; add brown sugar and coconut cream. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally and scraping down sides, for 4-5 minutes. You don't want to overboil because you'll end up with butterscotch CANDY instead of butterscotch sauce. After 5 minutes, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Set aside.
Next, make buttercream frosting. I like to use my stand mixer for this, but you can always use a large bowl with electric beaters. Cream (beat) together softened vegan butter and 3 tablespoon of the butterscotch sauce. SLOWLY stir in powdered sugar, and continue to beat on medium-low. You can stir in the coconut milk to loosen this up a bit. Continue to beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
To assemble, using a piping bag, pipe frosting onto cooled vanilla cupcakes. Next, using a spoon, drizzle butterscotch sauce onto cupcakes by the spoonful. I worked in a circular motion and used most of the sauce on my cupcakes.
Notes
For the coconut in this recipe, I like to use a can of full-fat coconut milk that has been separated. You can tell if your coconut can has the cream separated by giving it a shake- if you don't hear it sloshing around inside the can (and it feels top-heavy), you know your can is good to go. Also, keep your can stored in a cold place before using, otherwise high temperatures may melt the coconut cream inside the can.Especially for the butterscotch sauce, you want to use a thick CREAM, not regular plant-milk. To use, open the can and scoop out the cream on top for the butterscotch sauce. Then, for the frosting, use some of the liquid coconut milk at the bottom of the can.After you make the butterscotch sauce, try to work somewhat quickly with the frosting- if you let the butterscotch sit too long, it may be harder to drizzle onto cupcakes.