Pink Champagne Cupcake Recipe

Well, everyone keeps asking for the recipe for the Champagne Cupcakes and I guess I will reveal:

Pink Champagne Cupcakes (the easy way)

1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist White cake mix

1 1/4 c Champagne (I used Barefoot Bubbly Brut Cuvee, but you can use any type you like)

1/3 c vegetable oil

3 egg whites

4-5 drops food color (optional - I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine Champagne and cake mix with a spoon. Then add oil and egg whites and beat with an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes (don't cheat here, it should be fluffy!)

Place cupcake liners in cupcake tins. Fill mini or regular cupcake tins about 3/4 full (it will make about 2 doz regular cupcakes or 6 doz mini cupcakes)

Bake mini cupcakes 10-12 minutes or regular cupcakes for 17-22 minutes. They should be very pale on top because they continue to bake after you take them out of the oven - don't over bake these! Cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes in the cupcake tins, then remove and continue to cool for 20-30 minutes before frosting.

Frosting:

1/2 c butter, at room temp (get this out the night before and leave on counter - don't microwave)

3-4 cups of PURE CANE powdered sugar (this is important, I picked up the yellow box of Domino)

1/4 c champagne (I used the same as in the cake)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 Tbsp cream cheese, at room temp (get it out with the butter the night before!)

3-4 drops red food color (also optional, but it gives a delicate pink color to the frosting)

Beat the frosting alternating sugar and champagne so that you can get the right consistency. I of course used more champagne to achieve the taste and consistency that I like, but only a couple of tablespoons. Put frosting in a ziplok bag (or piping bag if you have one) and fill to one corner. Using scissors, snip the bottom corner (smaller is better b/c you can always make it larger) and pipe onto cupcakes. You can also just frost with a knife or scraping spatula for that messy look.

ENJOY!!!