Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes Recipe

Recipe:

Cupcakes:
2 Cups of all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 Cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup strawberry infused Champagne
1 Cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 or 2 drops of red food coloring (optional) 1 Cup of milk
1 egg
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 Cup of oil

Frosting:
Both a strawberry cream cheese or a strawberry mouse are lovely on these! For the cream cheese version use a blend the following together in a small, chilled bowl for 1 to 2 minutes. If a thicker consistency is wanted add another 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar at a time for desired thickness:

A softened 8 oz package of cream cheese
1/4 Cup of strawberry infused Champagne
1/4 softened unsalted butter
3 to 4 Cups of strawberry flavored powdered sugar or plain powdered sugar
1/4 cup strawberries mashed with a fork


The Steps:
Start off by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and sifting the flour to remove any lumps and help to lighten the finished cupcake batter.

Next prepare your strawberries by soaking them in the 1/4 cup of Champagne for at least 30 minutes. Remove strawberries and reserve the Champagne liquid for use in the batter. Finely chop enough of the Champagne soaked strawberries to make 1 cup. The other Champagne soaked strawberries should be halved for use as garnishment on the top of the finished frosted cupcakes.

In a mixing bowl (or Kitchen Aid mixer) combine all dry ingredients well and alternate adding this dry mixture with your wet ingredients which have been thoroughly blended together in another bowl. Whip on medium speed or whisk briskly by hand for about 2 minutes or until well blended.

Pour batter into cupcake wrapper lined muffin pans (the ones used above are reusable silicone cupcake wrappers which I personally love). An ice cream scoop works great to dispense the cupcake batter. This will make around 12 to 16 cupcakes depending on how much you fill your cupcake wrappers, a wooden toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Bake for 19 to 22 minutes. Allow to fully cool before frosting.

Image: mam for Gave That