Butterbeer Ice Cream Floats with Coconut Caramel Ice Cream (Vegan+GF)

Okay, you got me. Yep, I’m a Potter fan.

Once upon a time, I enjoyed reading books. Of course, that was when I had tons of free time. These days, the thought of sitting down to a good book for hours and hours is a dim fantasy, and yet somehow it’s not as appealing as it used to be. I don’t think I could concentrate that long anymore, but there was a time when I could, and one of my favoreites was the Harry Potter series. What is it about that those books that’s so captivating when your young? I loved the way Rowling connected everything at the end and how she kept the ending a surprise for everyone. She also had all these little clues and details in the plot that connected at the end and you didn’t even see them coming, or at least I didn’t the first time.

Butterbeer is something that is mentioned throughout all the books and I remember imagining what it would taste like in great detail every time I reached one of those parts. When I first started brainstorming for October recipes a few months ago I knew I wanted to make my own version. I know there are a bunch of recipes out there from fans. They even sell it at the theme park in Orlando, but all of the recipes I’ve looked at vary a bit.

What I’ve found as a common ingredient is to add either carbonated water or cream soda. Okay, so some cream sodas do have dairy products but as it happens Jones “cream” soda doesn’t in fact contain cream. Now is it healthy, not really but this is for a special occasion, right?

I also found that most of the recipes were overly complicated for my taste. I kept the butterbeer itself very simple. Basically it’s caramel soda, oh, and it’s amazing. Although, I suppose making homemade ice cream isn’t the most simplistic thing, But it’s amazing! I wanted to make butterbeer floats because, growing up, one of my favorite ice cream treats was a rootbeer float. Plus, floats are so much more fun than just plain soda.

There are hints of so many different flavors that come together into a drink that totally exceeds my childhood dreams of drinking a butterbeer! It’s amazing and everyone loved it. I think one of my favorite things about these, is that once you’ve made the caramel and ice cream, they take all of 5 minutes to throw together and serve. I put the recipe for the butterbeers in a per cup ratio so that you have the option of how many you want to make. Yay, for instant October treats!

Oh, and if you want to simplify you can use a store bought non-dairy ice cream.

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Butterbeer Ice Cream Floats with Coconut Caramel Ice Cream

For all the big time HP fans you're dreams are about to come true in a majorly OTT way! 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Freezing Time 4 hours

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients

Dark Butterscotch Caramel Sauce:

• 1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
• 1 13.5 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup vegan "butter"
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons scotch whisky
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

No-Churn Coconut Caramel Ice Cream:

• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegan "butter"
• 2 tablespoons prepared caramel recipe above
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup coconut cream *see note

Butterbeer (per cup):

• 3 1/2 tablespoons prepared caramel recipe above
• 2 bottles Jones cream soda
• 1 teaspoon strong black coffee
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

dash of:

• salt
• nutmeg
• cinnamon
• ginger

Instructions

Caramel:

1. Combine brown sugar, "butter", coconut milk, molasses, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. 2. Bring to a soft boil and stir occasionally, scraping sugar from sides of pan, for about 10 minutes or until it starts to get thick and develops a dark amber color. Add bourbon and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 5 minutes until sauce is thickened, then stir in vanilla and cool. Store any extra caramel in an airtight container until in refrigerator.

No-Churn Coconut Caramel Ice Cream:

1. Whisk almond milk and sugar in a large bowl until frothy. Add almond milk, cornstarch, and salt and pour into a medium saucepan. Stir for about 8 minutes over low heat until it starts to boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling continue stirring for about a minute until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add "butter", vanilla, and caramel. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a sealable container. Cool for about 30 minutes then cover and place in refrigerator for about 4 hours until very cool. Pour coconut cream into bowl of stand mixer and place in refrigerator to chill also.
2. After 4 hours, whip the 2 cups of chilled coconut milk for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy. Remove ice cream mixture from fridge and fold in coconut cream. Pour back into a sealable container and place also in freezer for 8 hours or overnight.

Butterbeer Floats:

1. Combine all ingredients for butterbeer, except cream soda, in the bottom of a glass or beer mug and stir well. If the cinnamon doesn't seem to be mixing well try warming it slightly until it's smooth. Fill cups with enough cream soda so that you're leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space below the rim. Stir a little if necessary and add 1 to 2 scoops of caramel coconut ice cream to top. Serve immediately.

   
   
2. You can save the rest of your caramel and ice cream for future floats.