Champagne Cupcakes

Guess what? This is my 100th post on this blog.

Yes, 100. You heard me. 100 posts of me rambling about some sort of baked good, my life, and anything I’ve felt like talking about. Thank you for following along and listening! And feel free to, you know, talk back so I don’t feel like I’m just talking to myself. I do that enough as it is.

I have been home for a week and I can’t believe I have to fly home on Thursday. I have had such an amazing time. I’ve gotten to see most of my friends, though I wish I had more time so I could see the few that I’ve missed. I guess I need to just come home again soon! I’ve spent a lot of time with my dog, my horse, my family, and just enjoying the cold (mostly) East Coast weather.

One of the fun activities on my list was a Christmas party with my group of friends from high school. Another crazy thought is that we’ve all been friends for 7 years now. Say what? I know. Anyway, we had an appetizer and dessert party at my friend’s house, and please, I brought dessert. I made my salted brown butter chocolate chip cookies but I wanted to make something boozy and something special since I haven’t seen them all in almost a year. I had thankfully planned ahead and wrote down the champagne cake recipe from Boozy Baker, though I adapted it from a layer cake to a cupcake because cupcakes are adorable and portable and perfect for a party. They’re also pretty perfect to have to celebrate the 100th post here on this blog of mine.

Not only are these perfect for holiday parties, but they would be so much fun to have when celebrating New Years!

Champagne Cupcakes

makes about 18 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup Champagne
5 large egg whites

Champagne Buttercream

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3 to 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon milk
3 tablespoons Champagne

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients, add in the flour mixture and then the champagne, beating well after each addition.

In another large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on medium high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into the batter until just combined and mixed together.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean with a light crumb. Let cupcakes cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.

While cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting. Beat together butter and 2 cups confectioner’s sugar until creamy and smooth, about 2-3 minutes (It will at first look like a bunch of crumbs and sand. Keep mixing and eventually it’ll turn into a smooth creamy mix). Add in the milk and champagne, mixing to combine it. Add remaining confectioner’s sugar 1/4 cup at a time (You might not need all 4 cups) until frosting is thick and creamy.

Frost cupcakes and enjoy with a glass of champagne.

Note: I didn’t have cake flour, so I used 1 cup all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons, and added 2 tablespoons cornstarch and sifted them together. I also didn’t want to buy a large bottle of champagne since I wouldn’t be able to drink it all before the party, so I bought a small 187 ml bottle Champagne. I used the 2/3 cups for the cupcakes and then just poured the remaining liquid into the frosting.

[source: adapted from The Boozy Baker]