Champagne Pound Cake

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This velvety Champagne Pound Cake is such a great dessert for celebrating! It’s a tender, boozy bundt cake topped with homemade champagne icing!

An Easy & Festive Pound Cake for New Years

This soft and moist pound cake has champagne in both the cake and the icing! It’s a super elegant cake that’s really easy to make from scratch. If you’re looking for a boozy dessert for New Year’s Eve or your birthday, this champagne pound cake won’t disappoint.

I absolutely love the tender texture and sweet champagne flavor of this cake. The drippy icing on top looks so classic, and you can make it even more fun by adding sprinkles! Every time you buy a bottle of champagne, you’ll be tempted to make this glorious cake.

A Piece of Champagne Cake on a White Plate with One Bite on a Fork.

Pound Cake Ingredients

In total, this recipe uses almost a cup and half of champagne. The flavor is sweet and yummy, but not too overpowering.

For the Champagne Cake

  • Unsalted Butter: Bring your butter to room temperature.
  • Sugar
  • Eggs
  • All-Purpose Flour
  • Salt
  • Champagne: Pick your favorite. I often choose a sweet one, but you can’t go wrong.
  • Vanilla Extract

For the Champagne Frosting

  • Salted Butter
  • Sugar
  • Heavy Whipping Cream
  • Champagne
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Corn Syrup
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Sprinkles
A Champagne Pound Cake on a Cake Stand From the Side.

What’s the Best Champagne to Use?

I like using pink champagne for this recipe. It’s sweeter and it tastes amazing in the cake. But any will work. You don’t even need to splurge – the cheap stuff will work just as well! Just make sure the champagne isn’t flat, or your cake might not turn out right.

How to Make Champagne Pound Cake

This bundt cake is a breeze to make. The cake batter is super simple and the icing comes together in no time!

  1. Heat Oven: Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C) and prepare a 10-14 cup bundt pan with non-stick baking spray and flour.
  2. Cream Butter & Sugar: In a large mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add Eggs: Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until well incorporated after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure things are well combined.
  4. Add Flour & Salt: With the mixer on low, carefully add the flour and salt and mix until just combined.
  5. Add Champagne & Vanilla: Add the Champagne and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  6. Bake: Spread the batter evenly into the bundt pan and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out moist, but mostly clean.
  7. Let Cool: Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes, then invert cake onto cooling rack to cool to room temperature. I like to give the pan a little side-to-side shake first, to help loosen it. Brush the top of the cake with Champagne, if desired.
  8. Make Icing: To make the icing, combine all ingredients except for the powdered sugar in a small sauce pan.
  9. Heat & Boil: Heat on low until sugar is melted, then turn heat to medium to bring to a boil.
  10. Remove From Heat: Boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and immediately pour into a heat-proof glass bowl.
  11. Add Powdered Sugar: Whisk in the powdered sugar and allow to cool and thicken. If you find your icing to be a little thick, just add a touch more water to thin it back out. If it’s a little too thin, you can add more powdered sugar.
  12. Pour Over Cake: Drizzle the icing over the cake while the icing is still a little warm. Add some sprinkles, if desired.
A Slice of Champagne Pound Cake with Star-Shaped Sprinkles on a Plate.

Tips for Success

  • Grease Pan Generously: Make sure your bundt pan is VERY well greased and floured, as this cake has a tendency to stick to the pan.
  • Add Icing Before it’s Completely Cool: Don’t wait until your icing has reached room temperature to pour it over your cake. It will be too firm to pour and get a nice drizzle if it cools completely.
  • Bring Butter & Eggs to Room Temperature: Before you make the batter, your butter and eggs should be at room temperature.
  • Don’t Over-bake: The bake time for this cake varies depending on the bundt pan used. Check it after an hour of baking and remove it from the oven once a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with loose crumbs. You don’t want any batter on the toothpick, but if you wait until it comes out completely dry, the cake may be overdone.

Fun Ways to Eat Pound Cake

  • Serve with Ice Cream: If you really want to go all out with this dessert, serve your cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
  • Top with Caramel: Not feeling the champagne icing? Try drizzling Salted Caramel over your cake instead for a sweet and salty masterpiece.
  • Serve with Fruit: This cake would taste even more amazing topped with fresh raspberries or blackberries!
  • Add Whipped Cream: My easy 3-ingredient Homemade Whipped Cream makes a very tasty topping for this cake as well.
  • Make a Trifle: This soft, sweet cake is the ultimate trifle ingredient. You can make one big trifle or a bunch of cute little ones so everyone gets their own serving.
A Slice of Pound Cake on a Plate Next to Two Glasses of Champagne.

How to Store Leftovers

Store it in an airtight container and enjoy leftover champagne cake within 3 days.

Can You Freeze Poundcake?

You can definitely freeze your pound cake, but you’ll have to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap first. You may lose a little icing, but this will help your cake stay nice and fresh. Pound cake lasts for up to 2 months in the freezer, if stored properly.

Print
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A Champagne Pound Cake Topped with Gold Sprinkles.
Recipe

Champagne Pound Cake

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 45 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 16
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This velvety Champagne Pound Cake is such a great dessert for celebrating! It’s a tender, boozy bundt cake topped with homemade champagne icing!


Ingredients

Champagne Pound Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups (336g) unsalted butter, room temperature 
  • 3 cups (621g) sugar 
  • 5 large eggs 
  • 3 cups (390g) all purpose flour 
  • 1 tsp salt 
  • 1 cup (240ml) champagne 
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract 

Champagne Icing

  • 2 tbsp (28g) salted butter 
  • 1/3 cup (69g) sugar 
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy whipping cream 
  • 1/4 cup Champagne 
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
  • 2 tsp corn syrup 
  • 2 1/4 cups (259g) powdered sugar 
  • Sprinkles, optional 

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C) and prepare a 10-14 cup bundt pan with non-stick baking spray and flour. This cake has a tendency to stick to the pan, so be sure to grease it well.
  2. In a large mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until well incorporated after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure things are well combined.
  4. With the mixer on low, carefully add the flour and salt and mix until just combined.
  5. Add the Champagne and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  6. Spread the batter evenly into bundt pan and bake for 70-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out moist but mostly clean.
  7. Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes, then invert cake onto cooling rack to cool to room temperature. I like to give the pan a little side-to-side shake first, to help loosen it. Brush the top of the cake with Champagne, if desired.
  8. To make the icing, combine all ingredients except for the powdered sugar in a small sauce pan.
  9. Heat on low until sugar is melted, then turn heat to medium to bring to a boil.
  10. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and immediately pour into a heat-proof glass bowl.
  11. Whisk in the powdered sugar and allow to cool and thicken. If you find your icing to be a little thick, just add a touch more water to thin it back out. If it’s a little too thin, you can add more powdered sugar.
  12. Drizzle the icing over the cake while the icing is still a little warm. It will be too firm to pour and get a nice drizzle if it cools completely. Add some sprinkles, if desired.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 514
  • Sugar: 59.1 g
  • Sodium: 38.6 mg
  • Fat: 21.2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 77.4 g
  • Protein: 4.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 109.8 mg

Categories

More Pound Cake Recipes

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28 Comments
  1. agreso

    I made your champagne cupcakes before and it had to be reduced on the stove. Does the cake not require champagne reduction?

  2. Mrs. Danielle Rucks

    I made your champagne cupcakes before and it had to be reduced on the stove. Does the cake not require champagne reduction?

  3. Mandy

    Well…. my cake exploded in my oven …. it’s like the batter poured over my pan and in my oven …. not sure where I could have gone wrong there Any ideas ?






    1. Lindsay

      What do you mean by a “regular pan”? A round 8 inch pan? Or a 9×13 inch pan? I’ve never made a pound cake in those types of pan, so I’m not sure exactly how that’d turn out.

  4. Michelle Chapman

    Hi Lindsay – Merry Christmas
    I am really interested in making this cake for a friend’s birthday – I am to see theconcernedto see there is no raising agent in the cake – does the champagne do all the work of raising?






    1. Lindsay

      That’s very common in a pound cake style cake. There’s no need. But the champagne does give it some rise and a nice texture. 






  5. Bev

    Can you say which champagne brand you used…I have never bought champagne. Is proseco the same as champagne? I thought all champagnes are dry?

    1. Lindsay

      I can’t remember which one I used. It was probably Barefoot. They make a pink moscato champagne. Prosecco is a little different, but it’d be fine.

  6. Karen

    Lindsay, I am very interested in this recipe but want to know if I can I use sparkling cider as a substitute for the champagne as I do not drink?

      1. Lindsay

        It helps make the icing a nicer and more pourable consistency and keeps it a little glossy. You could try it without it, but it might not drizzle quite as well.

Lindsay
About Lindsay

I’m the baker, recipe developer and photographer behind Life, Love and Sugar. I love sharing trusted recipes with helpful tips to give you great results.

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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29