Harry Potter Butterbeer Sorting Hat Cupcakes

Harry Potter Butterbeer Sorting Hat Cupcakes

Jul 18, 2025

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cups light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon butter extract
  • 1 teaspoon rum extract

For the Butterbeer Buttercream:

  • 1 cup (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup Smuckers Butterscotch Syrup, plus extra for drizzling
  • 1 tablespoon whole milk

For the Vanilla Buttercream: (for the hats)

  • 1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon whole milk

For the Sorting Hats:

  • 6 Oreos
  • vanilla buttercream
  • 20 ounces milk chocolate candy melts (I prefer Ghirardelli)
  • red, yellow, green and blue food dye

Directions:

For the Vanilla Buttercream:

  1. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter on high with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). 
  2. Cream in the powdered sugar until smooth. 
  3. Mix in the vanilla. 
  4. Mix in the milk. Then mix in the heavy cream, starting with two tablespoons. Add in more until you reach your desired consistency. Make sure that it is pipe-able. 
  5. Transfer the frosting in equal amounts to four small bowls. Mix in the food coloring to each one, starting with a little and then adding more gradually until you reach your desired colors.
  6. Transfer each of the different colors to different piping bags with the tips just barely cut off. Set aside.

For the Sorting Hats:

  1. Take each Oreo apart carefully and scrape of the cream. (You can either eat the cream or discard it, you won't need to save it.)
  2. Very carefully whittle a toothpick into the middle of the rough side of each cookie and stick them about an inch apart in a thick piece of styrofoam.
  3. Pipe your desired amount of frosting onto the top of each Oreo cookie, starting with big dollops at the bottom up to a skinny peak at the top. You should have 3 of each color.
  4. Chill the hats in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour or in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes to stiffen the buttercream. Otherwise it will melt in the hot candy mets later.
  5. Once the hats have chilled and are very stiff, you can melt the chocolate. Pulse the candy melts in a bowl in 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring well after each interval until completely melted and smooth.
  6. Add the chocolate to a skinny but deep cup to dip your cookies.
  7. Dip the cookies upside down, one at a time, using the toothpicks. Do not fully submerge into the chocolate. Only coat the tops and sides in the chocolate, leaving the underside bare. Otherwise the cookies will likely become too heavy and fall off into the cup of chocolate. Place each one back into the styrofoam after dipping. Once finished you can chill in the fridge or the freezer to speed up the hardening process.
  8. Once hardened, you may notice that you can see the frosting colors through the chocolate. This is okay. Just repeat step seven, giving them all a second coat of chocolate and that will make them not be transparent anymore. Set them aside for later.

For the Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners and set aside.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
  3. In a separate medium mixing bowl, add in the milk, vegetable oil, sour cream, egg and extracts. Whisk together until fully combined.
  4. Add the dry mixture into the wet and whisk until just combined.
  5. Add batter to your prepared cupcake liners, filling each of them 3/4 full.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  7. Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

For the Butterbeer Buttercream:

  1. While the cupcakes are baking and cooling, you can make your buttercream. Start by adding the butter to a large mixing bowl and creaming with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
  2. Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix well, then repeat with the remaining powdered sugar.
  3. Mix in the vanilla extract and milk.
  4. Mix in the syrup, and then mix in the salt.
  5. Add the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with the star tip or a bag with the tip snipped off. Pipe your desired amount of frosting onto each of the cupcakes. Drizzle some extra syrup over each one and then top with the sorting hats. Allow each guest to choose a cupcake at random, that way when they bite into their sorting hat, it will reveal which Hogwarts house they belong to. (Keep in mind that this is all just for fun and totally random. If you are disappointed in which house you receive, then you can take the quiz online for a more accurate result.)

*Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to one week.

Makes 12 Cupcakes