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These Champagne Cupcakes are super moist and full of satisfying champagne flavor! They’d be perfect For New Year’s Eve or any other special occasion.
Champagne Cupcakes
I am a big fan of using champagne in desserts when I can. Champagne is pretty much the universal celebration drink and dessert is the universal celebration food, so why not combine them? It gives you the best of both worlds and the perfect treat for a special occasion – especially New Year’s Eve!
When it comes to champagne treats, I’ve made No Bake Champagne Cookie Pops, Mini Strawberry Champagne Cheesecakes, Mini Strawberry Champagne Trifles, a Strawberry Champagne Layer Cake and even Champagne Mousse! But of course these Champagne Cupcakes (originally posted back in 2014) have always been a favorite. Today I’m sharing an updated version with you that’s even better than before!
How are these even better? First, they contain even more champagne. Second, the texture of these cupcakes is even better than before! These are based on my newest Moist Vanilla Layer Cake, which is a favorite for me whether making a cake or cupcakes. I used it here as cupcakes and it makes the most lovely, fluffy cupcakes! These Champagne Cupcakes truly are the best and I know you’ll love them!
How to make Champagne Cupcakes
The first thing you’ll want to do when making these cupcakes is make a champagne reduction. You’ll use one and a half cups of champagne and cook it down to 3/4 cup. This allows you to add twice the amount of flavor with half the amount of liquid, so you don’t mess up the texture of the cupcakes. Once the champagne is reduced, set it aside to cool. You could even pop it in the fridge.
Next, you’ll make the cupcakes. These use both butter and oil to give you the best of both worlds – butter for flavor and a little oil for added moisture. Start by creaming the butter, oil and sugar together until it’s light in color and fluffy. You’ll be able to see very visible change and know it’s creamed.
You’ll then add the eggs and vanilla extract, followed by alternating the dry ingredients and milk/champagne. Bake the cupcakes, then set them aside to cool.
Champagne Buttercream
These cupcakes don’t stop at adding champagne to the cupcakes, it’s also in the buttercream! Gotta go all out, right?!
The buttercream is made with my usual butter and shortening, but always feel free to use all butter. I personally prefer the shortening, since I like to leave my cakes and cupcakes at room temperature when I can. I think they taste better that way and don’t dry out as quickly. All butter frosting doesn’t do as well at room temperature, so I use some shortening.
To your butter/shortening and powdered sugar mixture, you’ll add the champagne reduction that remains to give you your champagne flavor. Once well combined, your champagne buttercream is ready to go!
Are Champagne Cupcakes alcoholic?
While some alcohol does bake out of the champagne when it’s cooked on the stove (and in the oven), generally there is still some alcohol that remains. How much remains can very (read more about that here), but it’s safe to say that yes, these are alcoholic.
If you’re looking to make sure they have plenty of alcohol in them for a celebration and don’t want it all cooked, you could add some additional champagne to the cupcakes after they are baked. Poke some holes in the tops of them with a toothpick and then brush the tops with some additional champagne. It’ll also add even more flavor!
These Champagne Cupcakes are sure to be a hit no matter what! They are seriously full of flavor and such a tasty, light cupcake! I hope you enjoy them!
Check out my recent Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Truffle Filling! They are another version of a champagne cupcake with a whipped champagne truffle filling!
Recipe updated 12/23/19. If you are fan of the original recipe, you can download that here.
You might also like
No Bake Champagne Cookie Pops
Strawberry Champagne Layer Cake
Mini Strawberry Champagne Trifles
Champagne Mousse with Chambord
Raspberry Peach Champagne Popsicles
Watch How They’re Made
Print
Champagne Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 1 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Champagne Cupcakes are super moist and full of satisfying champagne flavor! They’d be perfect For New Year’s Eve or any other special occasion.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (360ml) champagne
CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES
- 1 1/4 cups (163g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp (84g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cups (155g) sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (120ml) champagne reduction, above
- 2 tbsp (30ml) milk
CHAMPAGNE BUTTERCREAM
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
- 4 tbsp champagne reduction, above
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
1. To make the champagne reduction used in the cupcakes and frosting, add all of the champagne to a medium sized saucepan and cook over medium heat until you’ve got 3/4 cup remaining. Don’t boil. To measure how much champagne remains, pour into a glass measuring cup. Add it back to the pan if it needs longer to cook down. When done, refrigerate until cool.
2. To make the cupcakes, prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).
3. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
4. Add the butter, sugar and oil to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Add the vanilla extract with the second egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
7. Add the milk and champagne reduction and mix until well combined. The batter might look a little curdled, but that’s ok.
8. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
9. Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
10. Remove cupcakes from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.
11. To make the buttercream, combine the butter and shortening in a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
12. Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
13. Add 3 tablespoons of the champagne reduction and the salt to the frosting and mix until well combined.
14. Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional champagne reduction as needed to get the right consistency.
15. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 844. To see how to create the swirl design, see my tutorial. Add sprinkles, if desired. Note that if you’re doing to serve the cupcakes more than a few hours after adding the sprinkles, you may want to use a sprinkle that doesn’t bleed, like the ones shown.
16. Store the cupcakes in an air-tight container. Cupcakes are best if eaten within 2-3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 406
- Sugar: 44.4 g
- Sodium: 14.7 mg
- Fat: 20.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 54.1 g
- Protein: 2.2 g
- Cholesterol: 65.8 mg
Categories
Enjoy!
Mafe these for a retirement party. Many of the guests commented that they were the best cupcakes they’d ever had! Thank you!
Wonderful! So glad to hear that!
Can I use the creaming method for this recipe? I baked these twice now and followed the directions and they came out beautiful, perfectly domed but once they were cooled, it was very dense. All my ingredients were at room temp., not expired and did not over beat because there were still bits of butter in the batter like you mentioned.
These cupcakes use the creaming method. You can swap out the orange juice for milk – or even a little more champagne.
Hi, I just tried this recipe but found they’re really doughy and smell yeasty, more reminding !e of bread than cupcakes, any idea what went wrong?
Hmmm, no I’m not sure. I’m sorry!
The champagne gives it the yeasty-fermented smell like sourdough. I like it 🙂
Just tried this recipe and I followed your directions exactly but it’s SUPER buttery and airy (lots of big visable holes). When I say buttery, I mean it’s seeping through the baking cups and even after I remove the cupcakes, there’s a puddle of melted butter in the cupcake tray. Is there something I’m doing wrong?
I don’t normally notice them being that buttery, but some people have described them that way before.
I definitely plan on making these! Could they be made in foil cups?
Foil cups should be fine. Enjoy them!
I plan on making these this weekend! I really want the champagne flavour to come through. Does it with this recipe or should I be adding more?
I believe that it does, but if you’d like even more flavor you can double up the amount of champagne listed for the frosting and reduce it in half on the stove. You’ll end up with the same amount of champagne to add to the frosting, but it’ll be stronger.
I like making this recipe but I found that as instructed, the butter bits gave me greasy cakes with butter pooling in the pan! Now I do the standard creaming method and it comes out great. Have you tried it with pink champagne? I’m curious but I don’t want to do food coloring for the pink.
Hey LINDSAY, this is the first time I tried CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES with your recipe and my family loves it so much. Thank you! I’m going to make some variation with this recipe and shall let you know if I come up with something great
I am very critical of my foods. I was not happy with the final product with this recipe. They looked awsome, absolutely beautiful.
However, the cake ended with a doughy bland flavor and the icing was super sweet.
So did I beat the batter to long or not enough? How would I also make the cake more flavor-able?
I’m sorry you weren’t happy with them. It’s possible that it’s simply a preference thing. These are a denser cupcake than some. Here’s a newer champagne cupcake recipe of mine that uses the creaming method – just be sure the butter and sugar are fully creamed to get a light and fluffy cupcake.
Just tried out this recipie with just a little twist and it turned out wonderfully! Subbed lemon flavored yogurt for the sour cream and replaced the champagne in the batter with a reduction like in your Champagne cheesecake (I used prosecco to save a little money though) and it had an amazing lemony flavor with the tangy sweet taste of champagne. It was so good! Topped them off with the Champagne frosting and white chocolate covered strawberries for Valentines day. My roommates loved them and a friend told me to quit school and open a bakery so I’d say this recipie is a winner! Next time I might use half lemon yogurt half plain yogurt so the taste of champagne is stronger compared to the lemon.
Good afternoon! I was wondering if the egg whites must be whipped for this recipe… Thank you and greetings from Argentina 🙂
No, I don’t whip them before adding.
Can you leave out the champagne in the cupcake, to make it a vanilla cupcake.
You can. That recipe is here. If you’re looking for a vanilla cupcake recipe, this is my newest version.
Hi Lindsay, I ordered your cook book last week and I literally love it!!! …. I was disappointed that the Champagne cupcake recipe was not included.
I am going to make the cupcakes today….do I use dry champagne?….Which Korbel did you use?
I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the book! It primarily has new recipes in it, rather than ones you can find on the site, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. For many people, it wouldn’t make sense to buy a book that has recipes that can already be found on my site.
You could really use any champagne. I believe I did use a dry one, but a sweet one would work well too.
Hello, I made these for this past New Year’s celebration, and I must say, they were the BEST cupcakes & frosting I’ve ever made (and I make TONS of cupcakes)! Your buttercream recipe with my high-ratio shortening made some of the BEST piping buttercream I’ve ever worked with, and I’ll probably use it for everything, lol! The best part, everything actually tasted like champagne (I actually used prosecco)! I wish I could share pictures. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes ????
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter for the frosting ?
I use salted butter with the shortening. If you were to use all butter, I’d do unsalted and add a little salt.
Heyyy, thank you so much for the recipe!
I really want to make some of these cupcakes for New Year’s, but I can’t really find shortening around here, I’ve never actually sen in stores. Do you have any sughestion of a substitute? I was thinking butter, but I don’t have much baking knowledge so I am looking forward to listening to your advice. Thankss and Happy New Year!!
Yes, butter is the right substitute for shortening.
I just made these and they stuck to the wrappers. I bake all the time and never had this happen before. Is it because I didn’t cream the butter and sugar? I never made cupcakes without doing that step but wanted to follow your direction as this was the first time I made these. what I could scrape off the wrappers tasted really good but the majority of them ended up in the trash
Hmm, I don’t know why that would happen. It’s not the creaming – these cupcakes don’t use that method. Sometimes, it can be the wrappers themselves. I’m not sure though.
My daughter and I just tried these and they didn’t come out well – they were flat and oily/buttery. We melted the butter (1 1/2 sticks) and used Swan’s cake flour instead of all purpose flour. We want to try them again tomorrow for NYE. Any suggestions? Thank you so much. The frosting was perfect though and had to stop ourselves from eating it from the bowl!
How well do these cupcakes freeze (prior to frosting)?
If I remember correctly, they should freeze fine. I always recommend defrosting still covered in the fridge.