Champagne Cupcakes just sounded like the right thing to do for New Years. But this coming New Year’s Eve happens to be particularly special to me and the details pertaining to that fact are what drove me to create this Almond Champagne Cupcake recipe.

This coming New Year’s Eve will mark the ten year anniversary of the very first date my husband and I ever went on together.

The early morning hours of this coming New Year’s day will be the ten year anniversary of our very first kiss.

And this coming summer of 2010 will be the celebration of our ten year wedding anniversary.

Our wedding took place in the Wine Country of the Temecula Valley, at the Wilson Creek Winery. Their signature Champagne which they are well known for is an Almond Champagne.

Now funny enough, my husband and I don’t drink alcohol at all, but I do often cook with wine and this time I decided to try making an elegant dessert with Champagne. If you want to serve a non-alcoholic version of these cupcakes for your family, or for the kids, just substitute the Champagne in the recipe with Sparkling Apple Cider.

Champagne in cupcakes just sounded so festive for New Years and using Wilson Creek Almond Champagne was the perfect nostalgic ingredient to represent the place where my beloved and I said our vows.

I hope this recipe can also make some of your coming celebrations extra special.

Start by combining brown and white sugars with butter and almond paste in a stand mixer bowl. Whip until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.

This is almond paste. It can be found in some grocery store baking aisles and most cake supply stores.

In a separate bowl hand whisk together, eggs, milk, baking soda, and Vanilla.

It’s convenient to transfer this mixture into a container with an easy pour spout.

In a third bowl sift together flour, spices, and salt.

Now with all three bowls prepared it’s time to combine them into one delicious Almond Cupcake Batter.

Alternating between the egg mixture and flour mixture continue adding both to the sugar, butter mixture until all your ingredients are together in one bowl.

Mix on medium only until all ingredients are combined. Do not over mix.

You will end up with a light colored batter, speckled with spices, that smells like sweet Almonds.

Delicious!

To create clean, perfect Cupcakes, fill a Ziploc bag with your Cupcake Batter, cut off the tip of one corner, and pipe the batter into your Cupcake Papers 2/3 of the way.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove your cupcakes from the tins. While they cool there is plenty more to do!

On to making the Almond Champagne Buttercreme.

Now I know what you’re thinking… Marshmallow Fluff? What in the world is that for?

The Marshmallow Fluff is what allows us to have a thick buttercreme that can hold a fancy shape on top of our cupcakes, even though we will be adding a full cup of liquid in the form of Champagne to our frosting.

So here we go.

Empty entire contents of two jars of Marshmallow Fluff into your mixing bowl and begin whipping. The fluff should begin to soften and smooth making it easier to combine with other ingredients.

Slice 5 sticks of room temperature, unsalted, butter, into tablespoon size slices.

If you’re like me, you might often use “salted” butter because it’s just what you always have on hand, even in recipes that call for “unsalted.” THAT WILL NOT WORK IN THIS FROSTING.

You MUST USE UNSALTED BUTTER or your frosting will taste like a you are biting into a raw stick of butter on top of your cupcakes. Trust me… in this recipe it makes all the difference in the world!

Pop open a new bottle of Wilson Creek Almond Champagne and measure 1 cup.

Add Champagne to Marshmallow Fluff and begin mixing the two together. After 2 minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl to retrieve all of the marshmallow fluff stuck to the sides. Then, begin mixing again and continue until the marshmallow and Champagne are completely combined.

Begin adding slices of butter a couple at a time while the mixer is on a medium speed. Allow each addition to completely combine before adding the next.

Once all the butter has been combined into the frosting, add 1 tsp of Vanilla.

Next add Powdered Confectioners Sugar to your mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. Mix on medium speed until well combined.

And that’s it… your Almond Champagne Buttercreme is ready.

Make sure your cupcakes are completely cool before frosting them or you will have a sad, melted mess.

Using a butter knife, spread a thin layer of frosting on each cupcake.

Choosing well shaped Almond slices, place each piece of Almond into buttercreme on edge of the cupcake, in a single row, creating a flower petal appearance all the way around each cupcake.

Most of the time when I make cupcakes I just apply my frosting with a simple make shift piping bag made from a Ziploc.

For this special occasion however, and for this fancy of a cupcake, I suggest actually using a real piping tip with a special star or flower shaped cut, to finish off your Almond Champagne Cupcakes with an elegant design.

Pipe the frosting in a swirl and sprinkle on clear decorating sugar.

Beautiful!

The combination of the sprinkles and the color of the frosting looks just like bubbles in Champagne.

I just love it.

I made my first few cupcakes just like this because it looks so beautiful, but after eating one, I decided to continue piping the rest with only 1/3 of the frosting you see in the picture.

Just one spiral around and into the middle so that the cupcake top is covered, is plenty of frosting. This will make your cupcake/frosting ratio better balanced for taste, and allow your guests to fit their mouths over the cupcake to more easily take a bite.

And now for the fancy Chocolate topper!

This part is so fun and it opens up a whole new world of possibilities in cake and cupcake decorating.

Here’s what you need.

This Candy Kote by CK is like hard but melt-able chocolate in a tube that makes it easy to write with. I found mine at a local Cake Supply store, and there are many places that sell it online.

Place your candy tubes in hot water to melt them. To make toppers for eighteen cupcakes I recommend purchasing at least four tubes.

If you’re not comfortable creating your toppers free hand, you can create and print your designs on a simple piece of paper from your computer.

Then place your sheet of designs on a flat surface and cover it with a piece of parchment paper.

Use your tube of melted Candy Kote just like a pen and trace your designs. Make sure to allow a thick enough flow of candy to come out in order to create a strong piece that can stand up once dried.

Double check to make sure that each letter or number in each topper is connected to create one fused piece, and draw a stem on the bottom of your design to create a type of stake to stick into your frosting.

Allow your candy toppers to dry for at least 20 minutes to ensure their strength and ability to stand up on cupcakes.

Gently peel your candy piece from the wax paper and lightly press it’s stem into the cupcake frosting and…

Stand back and be amazed with yourself!

These cupcakes taste really good on their own but they’re even more delicious with some chocolate covered strawberries.

I hope if you decide to make these cupcakes, they make your special events even more spectacular!

Here’s What You Need…

Almond Champagne Cupcakes

Bowl 1

1 stick – 8 tbsp – unsalted butter, softened

3 ½ ounces almond paste (baking supply store)

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

Bowl 2

3 large eggs

2 ½ tsp baking soda

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp Vanilla

Bowl 3

2 cups all-purpose flour

¼ salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp allspice

¼ tsp cloves

½ tsp cocoa powder

(These spices are all optional… you can create your own mixture of your favorite and available spices. Just keep them to a minimum so as not to overpower the almond flavor.)

18 Silver and Gold Cupcake Papers

For Almond Champagne Buttercreme and Decoration

2 Containers – 32 oz. – Marshmallow Fluff

5 sticks UNSALTED butter – This is crucial!!! Must be unsalted or your frosting will taste like greasy, salty, butter.

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 cup Powdered Sugar (plus more if needed to thicken)

1 cup Wilson Creek Almond Champagne

2 Bags Thin sliced Almonds

Clear decorative Sprinkling Sugar (baking supply store)

Dark Brown CK Candy Kote (baking supply store)

Clear parchment paper for baking

Baking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. In stand mixer bowl whip together almond paste, butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. In separate bowl, combine eggs, milk, Vanilla, and baking powder. In third bowl, whisk together flour, spices, and salt. Alternate adding egg mixture and flour mixture to sugar and butter mixture just until completely combined. Do not over-mix. Spoon batter into plastic sandwich bag, cut off tip of bag, and pipe batter into paper cupcake liners until each is 2/3 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan and allow to cool completely.

Almond Champagne Buttercreme

Cut sticks of room temperature butter into tablespoon size slices and set aside. Scoop two jars of Marshmallow Fluff into Stand Mixer Bowl and begin to mix on medium speed. Pop open new bottle of Wilson Creek Almond Champagne and measure 1 cup. Add Champagne to Marshmallow Fluff and continue mixing until combined. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl to retrieve all of the marshmallow fluff and combine with Champagne. Continue mixing.  Pour in Vanilla. Gradually add in slices of butter while beating well to combine each addition. Continue until all butter has been added and mixture is smooth. Scrape bowl again and continue mixing while adding Powdered Sugar until all is well combined. Add extra sugar if needed to adjust texture. Frosting should be soft and creamy but able to hold a shape for decoration on cupcake.

Using butter knife or frosting spreader, cover each cupcake with thin layer of buttercreme. Choosing well shaped Almond slices, place each piece of Almond into buttercreme on edge of cupcake, in a single row, creating a flower petal appearance all the way around cupcake.

Spoon rest of frosting into piping bag or tube with star shaped tip. Pipe one full spiral of frosting onto top of cupcake until covered. (it is not recommended to pipe on more frosting than this to create a cone shape appearance on top of cupcakes like seen in picture. This much frosting looks pretty, but is too much frosting for eating when serving to guests.)

Lightly sprinkle frosting with decorative sugar.

Decorative Candy Cupcake Topper

Place liquid candy tube in hot water to soften. On computer select desired font, size, and word content for cupcake topper. Place several copies of text on word document and print on a regular sheet of paper. Place page of text on flat surface and cover with clear parchment paper. Using liquid candy, pipe and trace over text on parchment paper. Make sure all letters or numbers are attached to one another creating one single cupcake topper. After text is completed, pipe on a thick attached stem to bottom of text creating a type of stake to insert candy text into cupcake frosting. Allow candy pieces to dry completely, about 20 minutes.

Gently remove candy text from parchment and delicately press into frosting on cupcake.

Happy 2010!

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