Light and fluffy vanilla cupcakes soaked in champagne and topped with a strawberry champagne buttercream.
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strawberry champagne cupcakes
Celebrate the new year right with champagne cupcakes! These cupcakes are *so* light, moist and fluffy, are soaked with champagne, and topped with a strawberry champagne buttercream. The buttercream uses freeze-dried strawberries for the ultimate punch of strawberry flavor!
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Be careful when mixing the cupcake batter:
It is super important to not over-mix the cupcake batter or you will end up with tough and chewy cupcakes. Using the reverse creaming method makes it more difficult to over-mix the batter, but it’s still good to be aware of how much you are mixing it. Only mix just until all of the ingredients are cohesive.
Use room temperature ingredients:
This is super important for allowing the batter to come together smoothly. You’ll want to take your ingredients out of the fridge about an hour before baking to allow them enough time to come to room temperature.
Keep a close eye on the cupcakes while they bake:
Cakes and cupcakes like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. I’d recommend that you start checking on the cake around 15 minutes.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for strawberry champagne cupcakes:
vanilla champagne cupcakes:
- All purpose flour: gives the cupcakes their structure.
- Baking powder: for helping the cupcakes rise.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the batter.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cupcakes and adding that nice buttery flavor to them. You can substitute salted butter, just be sure to omit the extra salt in the batter.
- Vegetable oil: for tenderizing the cupcakes. If you don’t have vegetable oil on hand, you can use another neutral oil such as canola.
- Granulated sugar: for adding sweetness and for locking in moisture.
- Egg white: for binding the batter together and adding moisture.
- Vanilla extract: for flavor.
- Sour cream & whole milk: for moisture and texture.
- Pink champagne: for flavor! You can use your favorite champagne here, or use a non-alcoholic alternative (such as Welch’s Sparkling Rose)
Strawberry champagne buttercream:
- Unsalted butter: the base of the buttercream. You can use salted, just omit the extra salt.
- Freeze-dried strawberries: for flavor.
- Salt: for flavor and to balance the sweetness of the buttercream.
- Powdered sugar: gives structure and sweetness to the buttercream.
- Pink Champagne: for flavor! You can use your favorite champagne here, or use a non-alcoholic alternative (such as Welch’s Sparkling Rose)
how to make strawberry champagne cupcakes
Here’s a few images of the process of making these cupcakes. You can find the full recipe at the end of this blog post!
strawberry champagne cupcakes recipe q&a
can I make these into chocolate cupcakes?
If you’re looking for a small batch chocolate cupcake recipe, you’re in luck and can find my small batch chocolate cupcakes here.
can I double this recipe?
Definitely – just double all the ingredients and distribute the batter between 12 cupcake liners. Please be sure to use grams for the best results.
can I make these cupcakes ahead of time?
Definitely – I would recommend making the cupcakes no more than two days ahead of time. Store the unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. I’d recommend waiting to make the buttercream until you want to pipe it on to the cupcakes, to avoid needing to re-whip it.
how to store cupcakes
Like most baked goods, these vanilla cupcakes will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. They’ll keep very well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, but will still be good for about 5 days after baking.
tools and ingredients
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes
Ingredients
Vanilla Champagne Cupcakes
- 100 g all purpose flour (¾ c. + 1 tbsp.)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
- 41 g unsalted butter cubed, room temperature (3 tbsp.)
- 32 g vegetable oil (2 ½ tbsp.)
- 1 egg white room temperature
- 45 g sour cream room temperature (3 tbsp.)
- 28 g whole milk room temperature (2 tbsp.)
- 28 g pink champagne (2 tbsp.) + extra for brushing on top
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Strawberry Champagne Buttercream
- 141 g unsalted butter room temperature (10 tbsp.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 10 g freeze-dried strawberries crushed
- 250 g powdered sugar (2 c.)
- 1 tbsp. pink champagne
Instructions
Vanilla Champagne Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a muffin tin with 6 parchment liners.
- To a medium sized mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and butter. Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat the mixture together until the butter has completely combined with the dry ingredients and only tiny clumps remain.
- Add in the vegetable oil, egg white, sour cream, milk, pink champagne and vanilla. Beat just until combined.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the six liners. Bake for 15-20 min., or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Use a toothpick to poke many small holes into the top of each cupcake. Then, use a pastry brush to brush more pink champagne over each of the cupcakes. Set aside to cool.
Strawberry Champagne Buttercream
- With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, salt and crushed freeze-dried strawberries until light and fluffy (~2 min.)
- Add half of the powdered sugar to the frosting and beat until combined, then repeat with the remaining half.
- Add in the champagne and beat for an additional minute.
- Once the cupcakes have completely cooled to room temperature, generously frost each cupcake with the strawberry champagne frosting. Garnish with a strawberry, then serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
Everybody LOVED these cupcakes!! I did substitute the whole milk with oat milk but they came out so good! The cake was nice and moist and fluffy and the icing had amazing flavor! I will definitely be making these again thank you!
Thank you so much Elizabeth, I’m so happy everyone liked them! 🙂
I am definitely going to try this one. Cupcakes look amazing.
Thank you so much, I hope you love them! 🙂