These cupcakes were quite different than the usual cupcakes I make as it required a secret ingredient: egg whites. I love incorporating egg whites into any baked good because it creates such an amazing, pillow-cloud-like-fluffiness that just melts in your mouth and puts you in heaven for 2 seconds. Yeah, it’s that good. The batter also incorporates a little bit of champagne. Feel free to use any kind of champagne of your choice but the sweeter and fruitier kind is definitely recommended. I used this amazing sweet peach champagne from Trader Joe’s that only cost $6.

The cupcakes were then topped with a sweet champagne buttercream frosting, which was absolutely divine. I added a little too much champagne, which then required me to add more powdered sugar, so it was a bit sweeter than I had anticipated. I adjusted the recipe a bit so I recommend using 2 tablespoons of champagne first, and then adding more as needed.

Now with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, what’s a better way to celebrate this special day than with these fancy schmancy champagne cupcakes along with that special someone? With cute little Valentine’s day-themed muffin liners along with some sugar pearls or sparkles, you’ll be sure to impress your valentine.

Peach Champagne Cupcakes (adapted from Gimme Some Oven):

Yields 16 cupcakes

  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup peach champagne
  • 6 egg whites

For the Sweet Champagne Buttercream Frosting (adapted from Gimme Some Oven):

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons peach champagne, at room temperature
  • Yellow food coloring (I used about 3 drops for a beautiful peach color.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. (If you don’t want to use paper liners, you could coat a muffin pan with cooking spray instead.)

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.

In another clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter, then fold in remaining egg whites.

Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tray.

Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Add the vanilla, champagne, and yellow food coloring.

Increase the speed to medium high and whip until the frosting is light and fully, about 1-2 minutes.

Use a small offset spatula to spread the cupcakes with frosting. (I piped the frosting using a large closed star tip.)