Happy New Year! With Cupcakes!
Because it's the new year, I thought I'd do something classy and elegant. Well, somewhat classy and elegant, anyway.
As we all know, 'tis the season for CHAMPAGNE! I do love me the bubbly and these give you all the taste without all the alcohol, so even your teetotaler friends can enjoy a fun holiday toast!
I WILL say that this batter is difficult to work with so be patient with it.
So, here we go:
CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES WITH CHAMPAGNE FROSTING
Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Duh.
Batter:
3/4 cups champagne (I used Martini and Rossi Rosé, but champagne is champagne, I suppose)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups butter (about 11 tbsp, measured on the stick)
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 egg whites (room temperature)
1) Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy
2) Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt
3) Alternate blend in flour mixture and champagne. The batter will be STIFF at this point. Don't panic. It's supposed to be that way.
4) In a clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. This should take about 3 minutes with a high speed hand mixer. I's po' so I don't have a stand mixer. Dammit.
5) Fold 1/3 of the eggs into the batter so that it loosens up, then fold in the rest. The batter will look lumpy, but you don't want to overwork it. Otherwise those egg whites are kinda useless.
6) Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
1 cup champagne (plus 2 tablespoons)
2 sticks of butter (softened)
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1) This is the fun part. Put the cup of champagne in a saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 2-3 tablespoons of liquid. You MUST watch this because the smell of burnt champagne is all kinds of nasty. Just trust me on this.
2) Beat together the butter and sugar, adding the sugar a little at a time, until thick and fluffy.
3) Add the reduced champagne a little at a time then add 2 tablespoons of champagne fresh from the bottle mixing in completely. You may wish to add a little more sugar to balance out the liquid.
4) Frost your cupcakes. I topped them with a cherry, but only because the US won't sell dragees (those little edible metallic bead lookin' things that are totally cute) and I didn't have time to order them. Edible glitter is good, too, but I'm out.
Last step!
Take them to a party and have the most cupcakealicious Happy New Year, EVER!
As we all know, 'tis the season for CHAMPAGNE! I do love me the bubbly and these give you all the taste without all the alcohol, so even your teetotaler friends can enjoy a fun holiday toast!
I WILL say that this batter is difficult to work with so be patient with it.
So, here we go:
CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES WITH CHAMPAGNE FROSTING
Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Duh.
Batter:
3/4 cups champagne (I used Martini and Rossi Rosé, but champagne is champagne, I suppose)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups butter (about 11 tbsp, measured on the stick)
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 egg whites (room temperature)
1) Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy
2) Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt
3) Alternate blend in flour mixture and champagne. The batter will be STIFF at this point. Don't panic. It's supposed to be that way.
4) In a clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. This should take about 3 minutes with a high speed hand mixer. I's po' so I don't have a stand mixer. Dammit.
5) Fold 1/3 of the eggs into the batter so that it loosens up, then fold in the rest. The batter will look lumpy, but you don't want to overwork it. Otherwise those egg whites are kinda useless.
6) Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
1 cup champagne (plus 2 tablespoons)
2 sticks of butter (softened)
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1) This is the fun part. Put the cup of champagne in a saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 2-3 tablespoons of liquid. You MUST watch this because the smell of burnt champagne is all kinds of nasty. Just trust me on this.
2) Beat together the butter and sugar, adding the sugar a little at a time, until thick and fluffy.
3) Add the reduced champagne a little at a time then add 2 tablespoons of champagne fresh from the bottle mixing in completely. You may wish to add a little more sugar to balance out the liquid.
4) Frost your cupcakes. I topped them with a cherry, but only because the US won't sell dragees (those little edible metallic bead lookin' things that are totally cute) and I didn't have time to order them. Edible glitter is good, too, but I'm out.
Last step!
Take them to a party and have the most cupcakealicious Happy New Year, EVER!