Monday, December 31, 2012

Champagne & Strawberries Cupcakes

Well, the cat's out of the bag.. We're expecting! Which means that I don't get to share a bottle of hubs and my favorite champagne:


This stuff isn't even TECHNICALLY champagne, it's cava. Sort of like the Spanish version of champagne. No matter, it's still my favorite. Since I can't drink it this year, I decided that I was going to do a version of champagne and strawberries that I COULD have for my midnight celebration. Cupcakes! I kind of searched around, and there was a pretty awesome Mimosa cupcake recipe over at The Cupcake Project, but I didn't want anything too time/energy consuming since I've had ZERO energy this time around so far. I wracked my brain and decided to go with a mix. What is light and bubbly and sweet like champagne? Angel food cake! YES! Pair that with a delicious strawberry cream cheese frosting, and it's a match made in heaven. 

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
1 box Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake Mix
1 1/4 c champagne (whatever you fancy!)

Frosting:
1oz freeze dried strawberries
1/2 c butter, softened (1 stick)
8oz cream cheese
4-6 c powdered sugar

Directions:

Prepare the cake mix as directed on box, just use the champagne in place of the water! Bake 20-25 minutes for cupcakes (since it doesn't have the times listed for them). Let cool completely. 

For the frosting, pulverize the strawberries. If you're having a hard time finding a package of freeze dried strawberries, check Target. They usually have packages of various freeze dried fruits available. You can TOTALLY do this with any of them! Anyways. Set the strawberries aside after they've been powdered. Cream the butter and cream cheese, add the strawberries back in, mix, and then add powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want. Frost once the cupcakes are cooled!