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Champagne cupcakes topped with gold candles.

High Altitude Champagne Cupcakes

Heather Smoke
High altitude tested champagne cupcakes, frosted with silky champagne buttercream, topped with gold sugar pearls and edible gold leaf.

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 5 votes
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings12

Equipment

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 champagne
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg white
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

Buttercream

  • 1 cup champagne, reduced to 1/4 cup
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • ½ tbsp meringue powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • coarse white sparkling sugar, gold sugar pearls, and edible gold leaf, for decorating

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 champagne, 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 champagne reduction, pour the champagne into a saucepan and set over medium heat. Simmer until the champagne is reduced to about 1/4 cup. 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, 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.
  • Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with the buttercream, and pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes. Decorate with the sparkling sugar, sugar pearls and edible gold leaf.

Notes

  • If you want to make this cake without champagne, try substituting another fizzy, bubbly liquid, such as Sprite, Ginger Ale, or a non-alcoholic sparkling beverage.
Keyword Cake, Champagne, Christmas, Cupcakes, High Altitude, New Year's Eve
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