Champagne Cupcakes

Low key dinner party with friends for New Year's Eve. The theme was "Pizza Party For Grown Ups." Boozy cupcakes for an adult pizza party seemed appropriate and well, there's nothing like champagne for New Year's boozing. I was definitely high on some Martha Stewart crack when I decided to make the cupcakes and the pizza from scratch.

Total time: ~1 hour, includes letting cakes cool and frosting cakes.

VERDICT: It's always a good sign when people go beyond the polite amount of cake to eat, isn't it? This cake also inspired the Llamaface to re-write Dolly Parton's "Jolene" in my honor.

Champagne Cupcakes

adapted from "Champagne Layer Cake" recipe taken from Boozy Cakes, yields 18 cupcakes

10 tablespoons butter

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon whiskey vanilla

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup champagne

1. Preheat oven 350F. Line cupcake tin with liners.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir and set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar together, make sure there are no lumps of butter or sugar.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, to butter mixture. Add vanilla and stir.

5. Add flour mixture to batter, 1/2 cup at a time. Alternate with champagne. Mix well.

6. Fill cupcake tins 3/4 with batter and bake for 20 minutes or until just golden brown.

Champagne Frosting

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup champagne

1 tablespoon whiskey vanilla

*optional: 2-3 drops food coloring, I dissolved a few heaping spoonfuls of pink sugar in the champagne

1. Soften butter and sift powdered sugar to remove clumps.

2. Add powdered sugar to butter, 1 cup at a time. Alternate with champagne in small batches. You may need more or less.