This Custard based homemade butterbeer ice cream is perfection. Easy to make, this tastes just like the butterbeer drink!
Creating this Harry Potter Butterbeer Ice Cream Recipe
Years ago I took the kids to Universal Studios in Orlando for a week. The whole trip was magical but our favorite part of the trip was Harry Potter World.
All of us are fans of the books and movies and I couldn’t wait to share the magic of the parks with my kids (I had been before, solo).
Our first night there we were in a VIP group and had Diagon Alley to ourselves and they served endless butterbeer and ice cream! Does it get any better?
Just like in the book you get the ice cream at Florence Fortescue’s. The shop was adorable (the whole park was) and the ice cream did NOT dissapoint.
Now their butterbeer ice cream was soft serve, AND I bought a soft serve machine just for making my own.
But after making a few versions of the ice cream (see the live video in the recipe card for all the versions) the favorite of EVERYONE’s is this custard based version.
Now you can run this custard based version through the soft serve machine, but it’s only good fresh. So after your done freeze the rest of the ice cream and enjoy it later!
Just take me to the Harry Potter Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for making custard ice cream, along with links to other Harry Potter butterbeer recipes and get straight to this delicious ice cream from the wizarding world – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
Tips to achieving the Perfect Butterbeer Flavor
My number one tip is to make your own butterbeer butterscotch (recipe included below). It doesn’t take too long, it’s not hard and it tastes amazing.
You CAN buy butterscotch at the store but make sure you buy a higher quality, thick butterscotch vs a cheap runny version.
If you buy your butterscotch I recommend adding some rum extract and vinegar to change it from plain butterscotch to a butterbeer flavor.
Now you could just use a classic vanilla ice cream recipe and add some of the butterbeer butterscotch to the mixture BUT what really makes this ice cream ridiculously good is the cream soda reduction.
By adding the reduction your still getting the soda flavor that is the main ingredient to butterbeer!
Tips for making perfect custard based ice cream
I’m all about custard bases for ice creams – it’s a creamer texture vs a more icy texture (time and place for that too, but creamy is my go to.
If using a freezable ice cream bowl (vs ice) Make sure the ice cream bowl is completely frozen – at LEAST 20 hours before making your ice cream – I have a double bowl ice cream maker and keep both in the freezer at all times so I’m ALWAYS ready to make ice cream!
when separating egg yolks crack your egg on a flat surface vs an edge – you decrease the risk of a shell puncturing the yolk
keep the egg whites and make homemade marshmallow fluff or Macarons! I keep my egg whites in tupperware and mark how many egg whites are in the container with a dry erase marker
hand whisk the egg yolks/eggs and sugar (and in this recipe cocoa) until it’s nice and smooth and ribbony. This recipe will start out chunky because of the cocoa but keep beating and it will be perfect
Bring the cream/milk JUST to a simmer, watch the edges for little bubbles
When you simmer the milk keep a close eye on it – don’t get distracted by texting… it’s a MESS to clean up AND you’ll have to remeasure the milk!
Place a damp paper towel below the egg/sugar mixture to hold it in place so you can whisk and pour the milk in a steady stream and beat without a third arm holding the bowls
When heating full mixture to thicken stir with a spoon or spatula rather than a whisk to keep it from getting to foamy. Stir constantly so it doesn’t burn to the bottom but you can keep a slow and steady stirring vs going crazy and burning out your arm.
Always strain the warm mixture when adding it to the cream to get rid of any small cooked egg pieces.
Make sure to chill the mixture ALL the way before running it through your ice cream maker
for a soft serve texture you can eat it as soon as it’s done – if you want a harder ice cream freeze for 4-6 hours.
To make this Ice Cream recipe you’ll need
- Ice Cream Machine
- Ice Cream Container
- Butterscotch
- Rum Extract
- Cream Soda
- Strainer
Custard-Based Butterbeer Ice Cream
If you love these ice cream recipes as much as I do, I’d love a 5 star review. Be sure to share on social media and tag me if you make it @ashleemariecakes! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love Butterbeer you’ll love these other Harry Potter-inspired recipes!
Frozen Butterbeer | Hot Butterbeer | Cold Butterbeer
Butterbeer Popcorn | Snitch Cake | Butterbeer Fudge
Connect with Ashlee Marie Online!
To watch me make this butterbeer flavored ice cream in a live cooking show play the video in the recipe card. There should also be a short teaser auto-playing for you.
You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Butterbeer Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
Butterbeer Butterscotch
- 1½ C packed brown sugar Light or dark, I use a mix of both
- ½ C light corn syrup
- ⅓ C butter
- ⅔ C heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp rum extract
Cream Soda Reduction
- 1½ C cream soda or you could use a 2-liter bottle and have some extra.
Custard
- 1½ C whole milk
- 1½ C heavy whipping cream
- ½ C granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 egg
Instructions
Butterbeer Butterscotch
- In a saucepan bring the butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar to a boil.
- Boil until it reaches 240 degrees (adjust for altitude)
- Take off the heat and add the heavy whipping cream in a thin stream while stirring.
- Add the salt, vinegar, rum extract, and stir.
- Let cool to room temperature.
Cream Soda Reduction
- Bring the soda to a steady boil at medium-medium high.
- Boil until it's reduced to 3 Tbsps (or if you are using the whole bottle, 1¼ C). This should take between an hour or an hour and a half.
Custard Base
- In a medium saucepan bring the milk and cream to a simmer.
- In a seperate bowl beat the eggs, sugar, and salt together until it is light in color, thick, and ribbony.
- Slowly stir the milk and cream mixture into the eggs. (this will temper them)
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook until it thickens.
- Strain the custard into a bowl, ideally an ice bath to cool it down quickly. (an ice bath is when the bowl is in a larger ice-filled bowl)
- Add the butterbeer butterscotch and the soda reduction, stir.
- Chill mixture in the fridge.
- Run through ice cream machine according to directions; 40 minutes for me.
- Pour into container and freeze for 4 hours or until firm.
Gaby M
This recipe was easy to follow and turned out delicious! Watch the video for extra tips and tricks. Making it again this weekend!!
Ashlee Marie
So glad you enjoyed it! This recipe has become my current favorite!!!!