These high altitude strawberry rosé cupcakes are incredibly soft, light and fluffy. The cupcakes are flavored with rosé wine, frosted with fluffy strawberry rosé buttercream and topped with freeze dried strawberries. Edible dried rose petals make a lovely decoration on the naturally pink frosting.
You might also love this strawberry bundt cake, no churn strawberry swirl vanilla malt ice cream, and brown butter strawberry crumb bars.
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What is Rosé?
Rosé is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins into the wine, but not nearly as much as what’s in red wine. It’s sort of a hybrid of white wine and red wine, with a beautiful blush color and a lovely flavor. These strawberry rosé cupcakes are spiked with rosé wine, in both the cake and the frosting, although the alcohol is cooked off. It’s important to note that these are not strawberry rose cupcakes (as in the flower), and do not contain any rose water or rose flavoring, although I did decorate them with a few dried edible rose petals.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Impossibly Soft. If you’ve made my champagne cupcakes before, then you’ll love today’s recipe. The two recipes are pretty similar, with rosé instead of champagne in both the cake and the frosting. These are delicate cupcakes, with a very soft, light and fluffy texture that everyone loves.
Naturally Pink. There’s no food coloring in the buttercream, since the freeze dried strawberries tint the frosting a beautiful natural pink color.
Perfect for Holidays. These gorgeous cupcakes would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or Easter.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- Cake Flour. Cake flour, rather than all-purpose flour, makes a very soft, tender crumb that’s just irresistible.
- Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
- Baking Powder. Leavens the cake, making it rise.
- Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Rosé Wine. Adds moisture, flavor and sweetness. The bubbles contribute to the light and airy texture of the cake.
- Vegetable Oil. Adds moisture and keeps the cake soft and fluffy.
- Eggs. Structure and richness.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
Buttercream
- Rosé Wine. By boiling the rosé first to reduce it down to a syrup, you’ll concentrate the flavor so that you can use it to flavor the buttercream without watering it down.
- Butter. I use unsalted butter, but you can also use salted if you like.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
- Meringue Powder. Adds stability.
- Freeze Dried Strawberries. These are easy to crush into a powder, and they add an intense strawberry flavor to the buttercream, as well as a pretty pink color.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Dried Edible Rose Petals. These make a beautiful decoration for the cupcakes. I found some at my local Savory Spice Shop, but you can also buy edible rose petals on Amazon. Just use them sparingly, since too much can give your baked goods a soapy flavor.
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pan with 12 paper liners, and lightly spray the bottoms of the liners with non stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Add the rosé wine, oil, egg, egg white and vanilla, and whisk for about 10-15 seconds until smooth and well combined. The batter will be fairly thin.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure the batter into the muffin pan, filling each cup no more than 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for several minutes, then gently remove the cupcakes from the pan and set them on a cooling rack. Cover the cupcakes loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- For the rosé wine reduction, pour the rosé into a saucepan and set over medium heat. Simmer until the rosé is reduced to about 1/4 cup; this should take about 10 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for one minute, until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, the meringue powder, crushed freeze dried strawberries and vanilla. It will be clumpy. Add the cooled rosé wine reduction.
- Increase the speed to medium, and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until very light and fluffy.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with the buttercream, and pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes. Decorate with freeze dried strawberries and edible dried rose petals.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
I found mine at my local Savory Spice Shop, but you can also buy edible rose petals on Amazon.
You can buy freeze dried strawberries at Target, which has a great selection on the dried fruit and nuts aisle.
Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
These do contain alcohol, but the alcohol is cooked off when the cupcakes are baked and the rosé is reduced for the buttercream.
You Might Also Like
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Strawberry Rosé Cupcakes
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ cup rosé wine
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 1 cup rosé wine, reduced to 1/4 cup
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp meringue powder
- 2 tbsp finely crushed freeze dried strawberries, plus extra for decorating
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- dried edible rose petals, optional
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pan with 12 paper liners, and lightly spray the bottoms of the liners with non stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Add the rosé wine, oil, egg, egg white and vanilla, and whisk for about 10-15 seconds until smooth and well combined. The batter will be fairly thin.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure the batter into the muffin pan, filling each cup no more than 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for several minutes, then gently remove the cupcakes from the pan and set them on a cooling rack. Cover the cupcakes loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- For the rosé wine reduction, pour the rosé into a saucepan and set over medium heat. Simmer until the rosé is reduced to about 1/4 cup; this should take about 10 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for one minute, until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, the meringue powder, crushed freeze dried strawberries and vanilla. It will be clumpy. Add the cooled rosé wine reduction.
- Increase the speed to medium, and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until very light and fluffy.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with the buttercream, and pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes. Decorate with freeze dried strawberries and edible dried rose petals.
Hi! Can I make your cupcake recipes in a mini muffin pan instead of regular?
Sure, they will just need to bake for less time.
Will this recipe work the same if you aren’t in a high altitude area? Or do I need to alter the amount of some of the ingredients?
Please see my FAQs: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/