Can you guess what’s the best part of making Pink Champagne Buttercream? You only use two cups of champagne for the reduction, and the rest is yours to drink. I used these on my champagne cupcakes and they were a huge success with everyone asking for the recipe.
Why make this buttercream?
This is the Champagne of all buttercreams. It’s creamy and light but not too soft, so you can pipe a pretty swirl on your cupcakes. All the ingredients used in this recipe are champagne, powdered sugar, and simple pantry staples. In fact, you could pipe a few roses with this buttercream if you use the champagne reduction for maximum flavor and less liquid to keep the buttercream stiff. Also, this buttercream takes less than 10 minutes to whip and can be kept in the refrigerator for days. You can even freeze leftovers for up to a month in the freezer.
Ingredients and substitutes
Champagne – Now, as a rule of thumb, always cook with wine that you will drink and chocolate that you will eat. Right?Similarly, use a Champagne that you will drink. If you can’t drink it – trust me, you don’t want to use it. Having said that, you don’t have to dig a hole in your wallet. You can buy a good quality Champagne at a decent price from your local wine shop. Cherry—This is my secret ingredient. I love using a few cherries when I’m reducing the champagne. They add that subtle flavor and a natural pale pink color. Butter – I always use all butter in my frosting. It’s just me! It’s really very rare that I use vegetable shorting in my frosting. This one is all butter. If you prefer and are worried about humidity – you can substitute half the butter with vegetable shortening like Crisco. Powdered sugar / Confectioners sugar—Use a good-quality powder sugar made with cane sugar, not beet sugar, and you will never have a gritty or grainy frosting. Red or pink food coloring gel—I love that little pink color I get from the cherries, so I don’t use any additional food coloring, but often, when I use them in cupcakes for customers, I use that ever-so-little dab of pink gel food coloring. Champagne extract – (optional) Because we can often use so little of the champagne in the frosting, our expectation of the flavor can be only met with the extract. It is an optional ingredient. However, it’s worth the investment if you are a cake decorator.
Pink champagne buttercream
Champagne reduction
Crush the cherries slightly to bruise them. Place champagne and cherries in a small saucepan on low heat. Reduce the liquid to almost 1/3 of its original quantity. Cover and set aside to cool.Pro tip – By reducing the liquid, we intensify the flavor while still keeping the quantity the same.
Buttercream
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter for a minute until creamy. Next, add powdered sugar one cup at a time, along with the champagne reduction. Once all the powdered sugar is in, continue to whip until light and fluffy. Add the salt, champagne extract, and vanilla extract – and whip a minute more. Pink champagne buttercream – add a few drops of pink food gel colors to make a pretty color. Consistency – If necessary, you can add more champagne or heavy cream for consistency.Pro tip – If you want to pipe firm swirls I recommend not adding too much liquid. Pipe cupcakes – Fill a piping bag with buttercream and a large star piping tip. Pipe a generous swirl on each cupcake. Enjoy!
More buttercream recipes
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