Butterbeer

Harry Potter Night part 1!

We hosted a Harry Potter evening this past weekend. No particular significance in the timing of it all — my roommates have salary jobs and we do live in Bowling Green, after all. Since Toad in the Hole and Eccles cakes were already claimed by my non-vegan roommates, I figured butterbeer would be easy enough to pull off. This recipe, modified from Vegan Dad’s, got rave reviews from the girls. It’s tricky in that it requires mixing each individual drink, but I hardly think many folks will want a second round. It packs a punch.

Oh! And I spiked ours. Of course. This is totally optional, obviously, but spiced rum really balances the sweetness well.

1 cup brown sugar
2 tbl water
6 tbl Earth Balance, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbl coconut milk
1/2 tsp rum extract
as much spiced rum as you please
1 liter bottle of cream soda

Heat brown sugar and water in a small saucepan, on medium, until it starts to bubble. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in the Earth Balance,salt, vinegar, and coconut milk. Transfer to a jar and place in fridge to cool, though I suppose you could also just leave it on the counter if you’re feeling really zen and you’re not in any hurry. Once your jar of sugary syrupy brown goo is cool, mix in the rum extract.

To serve, you’ll need to mix in 2 tablespoons or so of the syrup with as much cream soda as you wish. Mix well, add one shot of spiced rum, and top with more cream soda if you want to impress your guests with its fizziness. Which feels impressive to me, for reasons unknown.

We only got through 3 movies on HP movie marathon night, and I only made it through one of these cocktails. This is adult life as a Hufflepuff, y’all.