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Toasted sugar champagne cake on a black cake stand, with candles, macarons and glasses of champagne.

High Altitude Toasted Sugar Champagne Cake

Heather Smoke
A light and fluffy cake made with toasted sugar and champagne, frosted with silky champagne buttercream.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings15

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer

Ingredients
 

Cake

  • 2 ¾ cups (330g) cake flour, spooned, leveled and sifted
  • 1 ½ cups (324g) toasted sugar
  • 3 ½ tsp (14g) baking powder
  • 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • 1 ½ cups (399ml) champagne
  • 1 cup (224g) vegetable oil
  • 3 (165g) large eggs
  • 1 tsp (4g) vanilla extract

Buttercream

  • 1 ½ cups (399ml) champagne, reduced to about 1/3 cup
  • 2 cups (452g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 4 cups (560g) powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp (9g) meringue powder (optional)
  • ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • 2 tsp (8g) vanilla extract

Instructions
 

Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350, and grease three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
  • In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  • Add the champagne, oil, eggs and vanilla, and whisk for about 30-40 seconds until smooth and well combined.
  • Divide the batter between the pans. Bake on the center oven rack until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, about 22-25 minutes.
  • Set the pans on a wire cooling rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream

  • For the champagne reduction, pour the champagne into a saucepan and set over medium heat. Simmer until the champagne is reduced to about 1/3 cup. Cool completely to room temperature.
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for one minute.
  • With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, the meringue powder, salt and vanilla. It will be clumpy. Add the cooled champagne reduction.
  • Increase the speed to medium, and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until very light and fluffy. If needed for desired consistency, add 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream.
  • Stack, fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream.

Notes

Leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container or cake carrier for up to three days.
Keyword Cake, Champagne, High Altitude, Toasted Sugar
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