A Toast to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with Butterbeer

We love Harry Potter in this house.  There's something that resonates with children to see a young boy off at school learning how to do magic and defeating all sorts of unimaginable creatures and villains.  It possesses a certain "what if" factor that gets kids dreaming about the possibilities of a different land that is unknown to mere muggles.  Of course the wizard world exists.  We just aren't privy to it.

We've all watched Harry grow from boyhood, and now we're about to see him finish his final battle against Voldemort.  Personally, I don't know who is more excited to sit in that theater and watch the final chapter: me or my 11-year-old fresh from reading the books and my 7-year-old, who looks a bit Harry-esque himself.

It seemed only right, then, that we toast the occasion with a Harry-Potter-inspired beverage and maybe a few snacks, too.

Butterbeer Recipe adapted from Dine and Dish

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

½ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

½ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon rum extract

6 12-ounce bottles cream soda (made with real cane sugar), extremely cold

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Just when butter is melted, add in brown sugar, stirring to coat evenly in the butter.  Cook, stirring infrequently, until the brown sugar starts to melt and look like a liquid and loose its grainy qualities.  Turn the heat down and whisk in ½ cup cream.  Once cream is mixed in, increase heat to medium and cook for another 10 minutes, whisking every few minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Whisk in salt and vinegar.

Using a hand mixer, beat together cream and rum extract until thick with very soft peaks, but not as thick as whipped cream. 

Mix 3 tablespoons of the butterscotch-like syrup into ¼ cup cream soda, stirring to combine.  Top off with additional cream soda.  Scoop a few tablespoons of cream on top.  Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

Other Harry Potter treats:

• Licorice Wands: Chocolate licorice dipped in white chocolate and dusted with sprinkles.

• Cockroach Clusters: Pecans and almonds dipped in chocolate and allowed to dry into clusters.

• Bertie Bott's Magic Beans: Jelly bell Jelly Beans in a variety of flavors.

• Cauldron Cakes: Molten lava chocolate cakes with licorice rope handles.

• Pumpkin Pasties: Pumpkin-pie-filling-stuffed pie rounds, folded and baked into hand pies.

***Learn about J.K. Rowling's amazing rags-to-riches tale in the new Lifetime Original Movie “Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story” premiering Monday, July 18 at 8pm et/pt.