These Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream Frosting are very easy to make thanks to a boxed cake mix. They're elegant, delicious, a great NYE dessert idea, or a delicious way to use leftover champagne!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, champagne, oil, and eggs and mix with an electric mixer until well incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the liners of the prepared cupcake pans, leaving a little room on top. Bake for 1-18 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with baked crumbs. Allow to cool COMPLETELY before frosting.
Make the champagne frosting:
Prepare the frosting: use an electric mixture whip the butter until creamy—go a minute or two longer than you think is necessary.
Carefully add in the champagne, milk, and powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Beat slowly at first to avoid a sugar cloud
Whip until well incorporated, adding 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time until the desired consistency is reached. (I ended up using almost 5 cups of powdered sugar. The more sugar you use, the thicker the cupcakes will be.)
Load your piping bag with a 2M piping tip and the champagne frosting. Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, frost cupcakes and decorate with gold sprinkles.
Notes
Champagne: any champagne or sparkling wine will work, semi-sweet is best. Sweet champagne will yield slightly sweeter cupcakes, dry champagne will add a slight "dry" flavor. Short on champagne? Use the non-alcoholic option for the cupcakes themselves, and save the champagne for the frosting.Non-alcoholic option: use sparkling apple cider, sprite or 7-up, or a mix or sparkling apple cider and seltzer for a less sweet option.