Strawberries and Champagne Cupcakes

For the cake:

Start by preheating the oven to 350 F. Put paper liners into two 12-count muffin tins (recipe makes roughly 18).

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar. Combine the two using the paddle attachment and mix until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla. Mix to combine.

Into a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside for now.

In a different bowl, combine the sour cream and champagne. It will bubble and look kind of strange, that is okay.

Into the bowl with the creamed butter and sugar mixture add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, and mix. Then add 1/2 of the wet and mix. Then add 1/3 of the dry, mix, add 1/2 of the wet, mix and the remaining dry ingredients. Mix until fully combined.

Scoop batter into cupcake liners. I like to use a muffin scoop but if you don’t have one just use a spoon and fill each cup about 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until just turning slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack to cool.

For the curd:

Place the strawberries in a blender, and blend until pureed. Juice the limes over a strainer and pour the juice into the blender. Blend again. Pour the mixture into a strainer over a large bowl. Using a rubber spatula, press and stir the strawberry puree until only the seeds and pulp remain in the strainer.

In a medium saucepan on medium high heat, add sugar, cornstarch, strawberry juice/puree, eggs and egg yolks. Stir to combine and continue to stir until it starts to bubble. Once it bubbles, let it cook for one minute. Then remove pan from the heat and pour the mixture into a large bowl. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top and press the plastic into the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Cover and place in the refrigerator to cool.

For the champagne buttercream:

Add 1 cup of the champagne to a medium saucepan on medium high heat. Let it simmer and bubble and heat until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Once reduced, remove from the heat and let cool.

Add the butter and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whip until thick and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

Pour in the reduced champagne and 1 fresh tablespoon of champagne from the bottle. Whip again until fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.

To assemble:

Once the cupcakes and curd have cooled, take a large pastry tip and press and twist down into the center of each cupcake (don’t go all the way through to the bottom). Remove the tip and a small circle of the cake should be removed. Discard (aka eat the pieces you remove).

Pour the strawberry curd into a large pastry (or zip top) bag and cut the end off. Pipe a little curd into the hole in each of the cupcakes.

Spoon the champagne frosting into a separate pastry bag with a tip of your choice. Pipe on a generous amount of frosting on each cupcake. Garnish with a fresh strawberry.

Enjoy!

Champagne cake and frosting recipe from the amazingly talented: Sprinkles Bakes. Strawberry curd recipe adapted from: Southern Living.