I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do a Harry Potter themed recipe. I am a huge fan of the books and movies, so the fact that I have a Game of Thrones themed cake and no Harry Potter cake is really shameful. Alas, that all changes today with this Butterbeer Cake!

I’m going to blame the delay on this recipe on the fact that I actually didn’t try Butterbeer until very recently. In fact, I didn’t think I’d like it.

My first introduction to Butterbeer was over the summer during a visit to London. I dragged Ryan, his dad, and his stepmom (some more willingly than others) to the Warner Brothers Studios for the Harry Potter tour. Ryan and I bought one Butterbeer to share because I swore I would only have one sip of it. Souvenir glass? Pshh, why would I want one??

Needless to say, I finished half the drink before Ryan could even have a sip of it. SO. GOOD.

As much as I loved the original pop-like version of Butterbeer, I didn’t know there were actually superior versions.

Fast forward a few months and we’re in Orlando celebrating my birthday, which included numerous days at the Disney parks and, of course, Universal to check out the Harry Potter lands. My friend Eva insisted that I HAD to try the frozen Butterbeer, and that it was better than the original.

Lunch on our first day was at the Leaky Cauldron (for real!!) and that’s where we ordered our frozen Butterbeer. We also tried the warm Butterbeer, which the staff claimed was their favorite and only available during the colder months. Both the frozen and the warm were leaps and bounds better than the original. How do you improve on something that’s already so good? I think the warm one was my favorite, actually. Perfectly comforting and delicious.

How to Make this Butterbeer Cake

This butterscotch cake gave me a bit of trouble in terms of nailing down the perfect texture, flavor, and color.

The first batch was probably the best bake overall, but I could only find hot pink cream soda, so that’s what I used. Unfortunately, this left the layers an ombre kinda pink when I cut into them. The layers also shrank quite a bit post-baking, likely due to overbaking it.

For my second attempt at this Butterbeer Cake, I managed to find clear cream soda, but that store didn’t have the exact brand of pudding I used the first time, so I tried the store brand. My cake baked up with a lot of tunneling through it due to improper mixing. Sigh. My third attempt used Jell-O instant pudding, clear cream soda, and proper mixing—success! The first two batches were happily eaten anyway, and they were delicious.

This Butterbeer Cake, like the drinks, is fairly sweet—but it’s intended to be. I mean, you’re combining cream soda, butterscotch, and marshmallow… it’s hard to tone that down (and why would you want to?). If you’re a Harry Potter fan, or have one in your life, you’re going to want to add this Harry Potter Cake to your baking list!

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