Champagne Cupcakes
Bye 2017!
Oh, what a year.
New Year's Eve day has been a big day for me for several reasons. I'm not one for resolutions or the "new year, new me" mantras, but I do like reflecting back on the year and seeing all of the changes. I'm a details person, and I like to break things down: 1 year, 52 weeks, 365 days, 24 hours per day. There are obviously bad days, and even bad weeks, but I try to make sure I have more good days than bad days.
The year started a little rough. Ghosts from the past came in, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do or if I wanted to even stay in Austin. Luckily for me, things turned around pretty quickly. I adopted Franklin and Wallis, got promoted at work, hosted some great parties, watched two of my best friends get married, watched countless other friends get engaged, traveled, grew personally and professionally, became more confident in myself, strengthened my cooking and baking skills, taken several laps around Lady Bird Lake, and overall had a really great year. For me, it's very easy to hold on to the negatives and missed opportunities, and that's something I've really tried to focus on the last year. Progress, not perfection, right?
In true NYE form, I'm bringing champagne (ok prosecco) into the kitchen for some fun and festive cupcakes. I realize this is last minute, but if college taught me anything, it's that you can save things for the last minute and it'll still work out. If you have basic baking ingredients and some bubbly in your kitchen, you have all the ingredients to make this!
Champagne Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup prosecco
Buttercream
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp heavy cream
2 Tbsp prosecco
1 tsp vanilla
Optional
Sprinkles
Cake Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.
In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and pale. Add sugar and beat on med-high for 2-3 minutes until fully incorporated. Slow the mixer down, and add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla.
Mix the dry mixture and the prosecco into the butter mixture, alternating between the flour and prosecco until everything is mixed together.
Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake tin. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Take out of the oven and let sit in the pan for about 10 minutes before taking them out. Let cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until pale and creamy. Slowly stir in the powdered sugar and prosecco. Add the heavy cream as needed until the frosting is the consistency you like. Scoop into a piping bag and frost room temp cupcakes. Add sprinkles or toppings as desired. Serve or refrigerate.