Champagne Cupcakes

Christmas is over and I hope you had a lovely holiday with your family! New Year’s Eve is around the corner and I can’t wait because it’s my annual reunion with some of my closest girlfriends. We’ve known each other since junior high and high school, but we’re now scattered around the country. While we try to get together a couple of times a year, NYE has been our one constant gathering the last few years. Plus, this year we have more than just the new year to celebrate, because…

I’m engaged! Russ proposed on Christmas morning. He put the ring box at the bottom of my stocking, which he slyly suggested we open last this year. I pulled out a bunch of awesome baking supplies from the stocking and then found a square box at the toe. When I pulled out the box, Russ got down on one knee and popped the question. It was sweet and romantic and everything I’d imagined!

We spent the rest of the day calling family and friends, reliving the joy with each of them. I can’t wait to celebrate with my friends in person next week. We also have another big milestone to celebrate-my BFF Hannah is pregnant with twins! She is the first of us to have babies, plus it’s twins! 2013 is going to be one amazing, exciting year.

This year, I’m hosting our NYE for the first time. I’m usually drawn to silver, but for some reason I’m really into gold right now, so the basic decorating plan is gold + sparkly. You can’t have NYE without Champagne (well, unless you’re Hannah this year), so I made some Champagne cupcakes with gold cupcake liners and these adorable gold star sprinkles. I picked up the pictured confetti from Scrap Happy Designs on Etsy, which also created a matching “Happy New Year” banner for me-the perfect gold, sparkly signage needed for my NYE party!

The cupcakes came out light and airy, with a creamy Champagne buttercream to top them off. The Champagne flavor is subtle, so I recommend pairing them with a glass of the leftover bubbly just to be safe. Also, random fun fact: only sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France can be legally labeled as Champagne. I actually used prosecco in these cupcakes (a sparkling wine usually made in Italy), and you can use any sparkling wine you like. Don’t splurge on the expensive stuff. Save that for sipping on NYE and get an affordable bottle for the recipe.

I hope you’re looking forward to 2013 as much as I am. Cheers to a very happy new year for us all!

Champagne Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • Champagne cupcakes:
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup sparkling wine
  • Champagne Buttercream Frosting:
  • 3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3-4 tablespoons sparkling wine

Instructions

  1. For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with paper or foil liners (I used gold foil liners).
  2. In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after adding each one. Mix in vanilla.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a small bowl, carefully mix sour cream and sparkling wine together.
  5. Alternate adding flour and sparkling wine mixtures to large bowl, beginning and ending with flour.
  6. Add 1/4 cup of batter to each cupcake liner (they should be a little over half full).
  7. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely.
  8. For the frosting: beat powdered sugar and butter together on medium for 2 minutes, until light. Add vanilla and sparkling wine, then beat for another minute. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

https://www.52kitchenadventures.com/2012/12/26/new-years-eve-champagne-cupcakes/

33 Comments on Champagne Cupcakes

  1. Stacy Uncorked
    December 26, 2012 at 8:52 am (11 years ago)

    CONGRATULATIONS!! The proposal story gave me goosebumps!! 🙂 And thank you for the awesome recipe – I’m definitely going to try my hand at making these…they look and sound delicious! 🙂

    White Christmas Fun

    Reply
    • Stephanie Nuccitelli
      December 26, 2012 at 9:25 am (11 years ago)

      Thank you Stacy! Enjoy the cupcakes 🙂

  2. Aishah @ Almond and Honey
    December 26, 2012 at 1:15 pm (11 years ago)

    Congratulations! Wishing you all the best for the future. Love the cupcakes, was just wondering is there an alternative to champagne?
    Aishah @ Almond and Honey recently posted Mr Men Christmas Cupcakes

    Reply
    • Stephanie Nuccitelli
      December 26, 2012 at 2:19 pm (11 years ago)

      Thanks Aishah! Do you mean something non-alcoholic? You could try it with sparkling juice, but I’m not sure how exactly that will affect the recipe. The frosting should be fine, but you never know how tweaking will affect baking. Let us know if you give it a try!

    • Stephanie Nuccitelli
      December 27, 2012 at 10:15 am (11 years ago)

      Thank you Chung-Ah! Happy New Year! 🙂

    • Stephanie Nuccitelli
      December 27, 2012 at 1:05 pm (11 years ago)

      Thanks Laura! When I saw your cupcakes on Facebook, I sort of thought that too! Yours are gorgeous, I love them.

  3. Aishah @ Almond and Honey
    December 28, 2012 at 2:48 pm (11 years ago)

    Thank you Stephanie for the reply. Yes something non-alcoholic because as a Muslim I don’t consume alcohol, but I loved the look of your cupcakes and really want to try and make a non-alcoholic version. Thank you for the suggestion I will definately give them a try with sparkling juice and will let you know how it goes. 🙂
    Aishah @ Almond and Honey recently posted Mr Men Christmas Cupcakes

    Reply
  4. Lenna Ontai
    December 30, 2012 at 1:51 pm (11 years ago)

    Congratulations! I didn’t know about the blog until Julia posted the Fox Live link on FB. I’m very happy she did! I will be visiting often (which will, no doubt, make Ella very happy if it results in more cake 🙂 ) Can’t wait to see the ring in person in a couple of weeks.

    Reply
  5. Dalila G.
    December 30, 2012 at 5:39 pm (11 years ago)

    WooHoo!! Big congrats on your engagement!!
    Very nice ring! You are going to have such fun and exciting times planning your wedding with Russ, wishing you loads of joy and happiness!
    These cupcakes look so yummy, I can’t wait to make them and share them with my friends……I’m a firm believer in sharing calories! 😉
    Quick question ~ will I need to do any small changes for high altitude baking with these beauties?

    Reply
  6. Amber
    December 31, 2012 at 10:50 am (11 years ago)

    Best wishes! I’ll be making these for our new year’s cakes tonight. Happy New Year to you and your fiance

    Reply
  7. Erica
    December 31, 2012 at 10:57 am (11 years ago)

    WOW! I wish I made these for my New Years gathering tonight — I made lemon bars instead :/ — too bad I still have to study for my English final now, or else these would be in the oven! Congratulations on your engagement! That is so romantic <3
    Erica recently posted best of 2012

    Reply
  8. Carole
    December 31, 2012 at 12:42 pm (11 years ago)

    I made your cupcakes! They were absolutely delicious (I had to do a taste test)! I used silver foil and silver sugar, and they looked absolutely festive! I am serving them tonight for a NY Eve celebration with friends and family! Thank you.

    Reply
  9. Cathy O
    January 6, 2013 at 1:14 pm (11 years ago)

    Best Wishes on your engagement! I just made these with some leftover Prosecco (Cupcake Vineyards, what else) and they are out of this world. I think I have enough prosecco to make a second batch, if not, making more of the Champagne Buttercream and freezing it for future use, to use up the open bottle of prosecco. Thank you for sharing this great recipe!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Nuccitelli
      January 6, 2013 at 9:53 pm (11 years ago)

      Thanks Cathy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes! 🙂

  10. Brittany
    January 14, 2013 at 10:07 am (11 years ago)

    I made these cupcakes over the weekend and my boyfriend and co-workers all loved them! I followed the directions exactly, except for adding a bit more chanpagne to the frosting, and they came out perfect. Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Dina
    April 6, 2013 at 12:07 pm (11 years ago)

    These look and sound amazing. How many does your recipe yield?

    Reply
  12. Jon
    May 9, 2013 at 3:57 am (11 years ago)

    These are great

    Reply
  13. Robert
    December 25, 2013 at 8:29 pm (10 years ago)

    If I reduce the champagne to a syrup will you taste it more?

    Reply
    • Stephanie Nuccitelli
      December 28, 2013 at 2:25 pm (10 years ago)

      Robert, you could try this for the frosting and it may give a stronger flavor. I wouldn’t change the liquids in the cake because it could throw off the recipe. Let us know how it works!

  14. julie Rolls
    February 3, 2014 at 4:41 am (10 years ago)

    This recipe sound just perfect. Can you tell me if you could freeze this.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Saunders
      February 3, 2014 at 6:50 pm (10 years ago)

      Julie, I’d recommend freezing the cupcakes and waiting to add frosting until after you defrost them.

  15. Jodi Keys
    April 17, 2014 at 5:56 pm (10 years ago)

    I have tried a few other champagne cupcake recipes, in fact, I tried another one the same day as this one, and it was an epic fail!! I was sooooo mad…so many ingredients wasted!! Then I tried this one, and well let me put it this way, my search for the perfect champagne cupcake recipe is over!! Search no more!! The people with whom I shared these cupcakes, could only comment on how light & fluffy they were!! Well done!! I did not use the frosting though; instead I whipped up a batch of Swiss meringue buttercream (my new fave) and flavored it with champagne flavoring..They tasted like little Bavarian cream puffs!! Yummy!!

    Reply
  16. Jeanette
    February 13, 2015 at 12:54 pm (9 years ago)

    I tried these because I want to make them for my daughters bridal shower. They are awesome.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Saunders
      February 14, 2015 at 11:17 am (9 years ago)

      So glad you enjoyed them! Congrats to your daughter 🙂

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