Champagne Cupcakes

I've been on a Prosecco kick lately. I am not sure why but these cupcakes might have something to do with it. I made these for my best friend's going away party and they were a huge hit. What makes them so yummy is how light and fluffy they are. You guys all know how I love white frosting and batter because it's so pretty so these were absolutely gorgeous.

The original recipe is for pink champagne cupcakes but I adapted it to make just regular champagne (actually I used Prosecco) cupcakes. I'm not a huge fan of blush and rose wines so I opted out of going the pink champagne route.

What makes these cupcakes so light and airy is the fact that they use egg whites. Warm egg whites. When your egg whites are warmed up to room temperature, you get fluffy cake. These cupcakes were similar to Angel Food Cake but not quite as light.

This is what the batter looked like before I folded in the egg whites. So pretty.

And after the egg whites. Not a whole lot of change, just a bit wetter and fuller.

I used a cookie dough scoop to fill my cupcake liners, I greased mine but you shouldn't have to. I found that greasing them made some of the liners pull away from the cupcake.

After baking them for about 18 minutes, I let them cool. Here they are with the Bourbon-Brown Sugar Cupcakes I also made. I will post that recipe at a later date!

I also decided to bake some big ones too, since I had left over batter. I used these cupcake liners that I had no idea were able to be used with out the cupcake tin. I just thought I'd try them out that way and they worked! Woo hoo! See? Being adventurous can pay off. I should take note of that.

So here is the final product. Champagne cupcakes on the left, Bourbon Brown-Sugar on the right. I decorated them with white frosting, using a large round tip and put some strawberries on top (champagne and strawberries, get it??). I sprinkled them with clear sprinkles to give them a sparkle that is hard to see in the picture. I really like the tray I used to carry them in. I must get that back as I left it in my friend's car. Oops.

Recipe

The Baking Robot

Yields: 24 large cupcakes, 48 mini cupcakes

Cupcakes
Ingredients
3 cups cake flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup champagne (I used Prosecco instead)
6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with baking liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat egg whites till stiff peaks form.

In a second large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of champagne, mixing until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Fold in 1/3 of the whipped egg whites and mix thoroughly. Add in remaining egg white mixture till combined.

Divide batter evenly among the lined cups, filling each halfway full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on wire rack.

Once cupcakes have cooled, gently poke 8-10 holes in cupcake using a toothpick. Using a pastry brush, glaze the cupcakes with extra champagne.

Frosting
Ingredients
3-1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 tbsp champagne (or Prosecco, I used a quarter cup of Prosecco since it's lighter than champagne)

Beat butter until creamy. With mixer on low, slowly add in confectioners’ sugar. Beat on high for 3-5 minutes or until smooth and fluffy. Add in champagne and mix till incorporated.