I made these for my birthday one year and they quickly become a favorite.  The frosting has been described as light and fluffy, almost like whipped cream.  And, well, they’re…PINK!  How can you go wrong? 😉  The recipe isn’t mind originally but I can’t find the original, only others who have done the same as I and shared this deliciousness.

Ingredients:

Champagne Cupcake Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup champagne (the sweeter the better – strawberry works great!)
• 6 egg whites

Sweet Champagne Buttercream Frosting Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons champagne, at room temperature

Instructions:

To Make The Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Prepare a cupcake pan with liners.  (This recipe yielded about 20 for me.)
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with champagne.
3. In another large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites.  Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

To Make The Frosting:

1. With an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter. Mix on low until well blended, and then on medium for another two minutes.  Add vanilla and champagne, beating on medium for another minute.

**I had to nearly double this recipe to have enough to frost all of the cupcakes as pictured above.  If you’re doing a “flatter” frosting style, this recipe should be enough to cover all of the cupcakes!**