Grant and I just celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary. With so much love in the air with that special occasion and the upcoming bachelor finale, it was definitely time to break out some Champagne Cupcakes! This blog post goes along with my YouTube Video Demonstration here, THE BACHELOR FINAL ROSE CUPCAKES VIDEO!
My mother-in-law and I are Bachelor fanatics. Pat and I will happily admit this is one of our guilty pleasures. We watch each episode with a great deal of dedication and wine. Each episode, we laugh, we gasp, we drink, then we follow-up the next day with texts about the most dramatic moments, people, or whoever it was that got us worked up. It’s our thing, and we are in it for life. Or until the show gets canceled!
Season after season we watch the contestants show up trying to make the best first impression. We see costumes, cars, and too many crazy tricks to remember. But lets’s get real. Why haven’t any of these actors, I mean true love enthusiasts, ever realized that the way to someones heart is through champagne and dessert?!
These champagne cupcakes are inspired by all the roses, love, drama, drinking, and glitter that is The Bachelor. So for all those that bond over the bachelor and wine like Pat and myself do, this one is for you! And catch up on the season here, http://abc.go.com/shows/the-bachelor.
The Bachelor Roses
Since The Bachelor and love in itself is so focused on roses, these Champagne Cupcakes will look like roses, which you can learn how to do from the rose piping part of the video. The buttercream is infused with a fresh strawberry and champagne reduction that sparkles with a dusting of edible glitter. They have lots of champagne flavor throughout, and the elements of roses and fresh strawberries. I’m telling you, if romance came in the form of a dessert, it would be these Champagne Cupcakes!
Strawberry Champagne Reduction
The first step to these Champagne cupcakes is making your Strawberry Champagne reduction that will get mixed into the buttercream frosting. This reduction takes awhile to reduce then cool, so it is important to get it started and set aside. As it cooks down, make sure to stir it to ensure it doesn’t burn.
When I make cupcakes that are going to be colored I always try to think of how to accomplish coloring without using any artificial food coloring. Making a fresh strawberry puree will give you a rich pink color that is natural, fresh, and vibrant.
As you can see, you will puree fresh strawberries then cook it down to half, adding champagne and a bit of sugar as it cooks down. The final result will give you a thick and pink puree that will give your buttercream a gorgeous pink color dotted with strawberries and popping with bubbly champagne and personality!
Champagne Cupcakes
Champagne cupcakes are full flavored with the champagne that you choose to use, so make sure that you love the champagne that you will be using! I lean towards sweet champagne in baking since this will keep your cupcakes free of any bitterness and acidity.
These champagne cupcakes use only egg whites. I always have my egg whites whipped and set aside. In addition to letting the champagne steal the show, this will give you a cake that is white in color and light in texture.
So let’s bake!
Get your butter and sugar creamed for about three minutes, until light and fluffy. Since this recipe is for 12 cupcakes, I used my hand mixer for the cupcake batter. To this mixture you will add your vanilla extract and the optional rose water. Champagne and rose water are a love match! Champagne enhances that floral notes in that rose water while rose water adds a subtle sweetness to the champagne.
After some tinkering, I found that adding a little sour cream will lend a smoother taste and give it a tender, moist crumb.
And now for the bubbly star of the show!
No, not me, you silly people! The champagne!
Then sift up your dry ingredients and gently fold into the batter, taking care not to over mix. Then fold in your egg whites.
The batter will be thick and smelling like love! Then you will evenly distribute into 12 cupcake liners. I use a standard ice cream scoop when I dole out cupcake batter, however, you can also try this- OXO Good Grips Large Cookie Scoop
The champagne cupcakes will bake and then must be cooled completely before you frost them.
Strawberry Champagne Buttercream
It’s finally time to use that strawberry champagne reduction that is filling up your kitchen with the rich scent of love and intoxication!
Make sure to use the whisk attachment of your stand mixer for this one so you get it as fluffy and whipped as possible.
This buttercream is so good that you’ll be tempted to eat it straight from the bowl. It’s silky, sweet, with a little sass from that zing of champagne. To see how to pipe roses, check out the video. It is so easy and gives the most dramatic cupcake ever!
But of course you need glitter! I used edible glitter to add sheen, panache, and a little bit of Krystal to these!
Happy Bachelor Finale Night! Share this post with all of the Bachelor Lovers in your life! Make sure to include these Champagne Cupcakes in your viewing party. Then tag me for a chance to be featured on my Instagram page! www.instagram.com/ritzymomblog
Champagne Cupcakes
This post goes with this video on my YouTube Channel: THE BACHELOR FINAL ROSE CUPCAKES VIDEO!
Champagne Cupcakes
Champagne Cupcakes have a unique and sophisticated flavor and elegance! These cupcakes have a strawberry champagne frosting and a light, champagne infused white cake base.
Ingredients
Cake
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 egg whites
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp rose water OPTIONAL
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup champagne
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour sifted with following ingredients:
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Champagne Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3.5 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- strawberry reduction
Strawberry Reduction
- 1 cup fresh strawberries hulled and sliiced
- 1/4 cup champagne
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Cupcakes
-
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
With the paddle of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in color, about 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bowl a couple of times.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift your cake flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk your champagne and sour cream with egg whites and extracts.
Starting with the dry ingredients, fold in your dry and wet (champagne/egg) ingredients into butter mixture, alternating. You will begin and end with the dry ingredients, so dry/wet/dry/wet/dry.
Fill 12 cupcake tins and bake for approx. 16-20 minutes.
Strawberry Reduction
-
In a saucepan, on medium heat, heat strawberries with sugar. Let it come to a simmer before adding champagne. Smash and reduce down to a reduction. Allow to cool completely!
Frosting
-
With your whisk attachment of your stand mixer, begin beating your butter and powdered sugar. Add in your extract and cooled reduction. Use a star tip and your piing bag to frost cooled cupcakes with a rose pattern!
For more Food Inspired by Pop Culture, stay tuned to my Trending page. And subscribe to my YouTube channel, where I bring all this food to life! SARITA GELNER’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL!
Interested in Tools for this recipe?
For more Ritzy Recipes, check these out!
https://ritzymom.com/2017/12/11/cardamom-cream-puffs-with-rose-water-whipped-cream/
https://ritzymom.com/2018/02/10/strawberries-cream-layer-cake/
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