Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Pink Champagne Cake



Happy New Year!! Ok I know I'm really just a tiny bit late to the party, but I brought a pink Champagne cake. Hopefully this will make up for my tardiness in posting!!
I recently came across a recipe for this cake and have been dying to make it ever since. I was putting together a cake tasting for a bride this week and thought this cake would be a perfect for a wedding. Everything about this cake just screams celebration!

This would be a great cake for any celebration...perfect for Valentine's day!!

Here are just a couple of my thoughts on this cake. If you don't like the taste of Champagne/sparkling wine, you probably won't like the cake. It has two cups of champagne in it and it has a distinct champagne flavor. I thought it tasted a bit like a Zabaglione, which is one of my favorite desserts. Also, you need to use a sweet, not a dry (brut) Champagne or sparkling wine. It doesn't necessarily have to be a pink champagne but it should be more sweet than dry. I used a sparkling Rose for this cake.
Once again, you really can taste the flavor of the Champagne, so buy one that would be good enough to drink.

Pink Champagne Cake
Source: Booze Cakes, Krystina Castella and Terry Lee Stone

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 egg whites
2 cups pink Champagne (sparkling wine, I used a sweet Rose)

FROSTING:
1 cup  unsalted butter
8 cups confectioners' (icing) sugar
2 -3 Tablespoons pink Champagne
1/4 cup whole milk, or enough to get the proper consistency
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
A few drops of red or pink food coloring

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350  Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in egg whites one at a time, stopping a few times to scrape down the bowl. Add in the vanilla. In three alternating additions, mix in flour mixture and Champagne, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour batter into pans and bake 35 minutes, or until a toothpick when inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the frosting
In a mixing bowl, beat butter 1 minute. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, Champagne, milk, vanilla, and food coloring; beat until smooth and spreadable
.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful cake. The color makes it look very elegant, perfect for a special occasion. Happy New Year to you, too.

grace said...

how neat! it seems to have a great crumb to it, so yeah, i think this'd be the ideal way to consume champagne. :)

Shay Jenny said...

OMG! Such a lovely cake...

Unknown said...

I am making the wedding cake for a friend and have never made a champagne cake before, but it is what she asked for. With the egg whites in it, I am guessing the cake will have a lighter texture - do you think the recipe can stand up to a 4 tier cake? I will be using wooden dowels for support, etc. but I usually use cake recipes that are a little denser for larger wedding cakes....

Half Baked said...

Hi Kristin, this cake is fairly dense. I originally made this as a possible wedding cake. If you put plenty of dowels in the tiers it should hold up fine. I haven't made it in larger sizes but you may need to lower the oven temp to 325 if are making larger size tiers