The best recipe for Pink Champagne Cupcakes with bubbly sweet champagne flavor, perfect for special occasions.
Years ago when we first moved to Kansas City, through Dean and Deluca, I discovered a great local bakery, Three Women and an Oven. They offered the most beautiful, best tasting Pink Champagne Cupcakes.
At the time, I had never even heard of a champagne cupcake, but they were so subtly sweet it became my favorite treat!
There are a few things that set these Pink Champagne Cupcakes apart. First, their size. It’s the perfect cake to icing ration. Second, the glaze that covers and hardens on them takes them to the next level. The fluffy buttercream tops it off.
These bite sized pink champagne cupcakes are the perfect baby shower dessert, and great for birthday parties and NYE as well! Champagne adds the most amazing flavor to these beautiful treats. And pink champagne? Well, let’s rosé all day! You’ll also love these Champagne Slushies, Sugared Champagne Grapes and Drunken Strawberries.
I have a little secret – you can even make these by tweaking your favorite cake mix! Yes! So easy.
Table of Contents
Pink Champagne Cupcake Ingredients
- Cake Mix
- Pink Champagne – see below for recommendations
- Vegetable Oil
- Eggs
- Food Coloring – Optional
Glaze
- Powdered sugar – the only kind of sugar you’ll ever need for frostings and glazes.
- Milk – I like to use whole for frostings, but anything you have on hand will work.
- Pink champagne {rosé} – see below for suggestions on style!
Pink Champagne Frosting
- Butter – softened, I like to use salted butter to balance the sweet but unsalted is fine too.
- Powdered sugar – also called confectioner’s sugar.
- Pink champagne {rosé} – anything you want, just make sure you like it so you can drink the rest of the bottle!
- Vanilla {clear if you have it} – it’s so easy to make your own homemade vanilla!
- Red food coloring – turns your icing into the perfect shade of pink to compliment your cupcakes.
How to Make Pink Champagne Cupcakes
- Prep – Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease tin.
- Combine cake mix and champagne. Add remaining ingredients until combined.
- Pour batter directly into bundt or muffin tins just over half full.
- Bake 10 minutes. Remove, allow to cool and trim any excess off with a cake knife. Flip onto a wired rack stacked over an easily cleanable surface.
- Make Glaze – Combine glaze ingredients and microwave until pourable. Pour in a circular motion to cover most of your cupcakes. Allow to solidify a few minutes.
- Make Icing – Combine icing ingredients. Put into an icing bag with your favorite tip or cut the corner of a ziplock bag to insert your tip. Pipe onto your cupcakes.
- Refrigerate before serving.
- Enjoy!
Best Champagne to Use in Baking
- Your favorite rosé! But truly, any bubbles will do. No need to splurge.
- Brut Nature
- Extra Brut
- Brut
- Demi-Sec – medium dry
- Doux – sweet
You can substitute sparkling wine if you prefer.
- Prosecco
- Moscato
- If you like how it tastes, you’ll love it in these pink champagne cupcakes and frosting!
Serve These Cupcakes For
- Oscars Watch Party
- Girls Night In
- Bachelorette Party
- Birthdays
- Engagement Party
- Bridal Shower
- Wedding
- Wedding Anniversary
- New Year’s Eve
For the sake of transparency, you can see my original photo and recipe card shared on my blog April 2010! It’s healthy to see where you started, right? My little point and shoot camera and self made recipe card did the trick. Thanks for following along my journey!
Tips
- Store – Store up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature or up to a week refrigerated.
- Substitutions – Substitute with sparkling white wine if you prefer.
- Baking Dish – Bake in cupcake tin mini bundts or a muffin tin.
Pink Champagne Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 1/4 cup pink champagne {rosé}
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 egg whites
- 3-5 drops red food coloring
Glaze
- 3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons pink champagne {rosé}
Icing
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup pink champagne {rosé}
- 1 teaspoon vanilla {clear if you have it}
- 2-3 drops red food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine cake mix and champagne. Add remaining ingredients until combined.
- Pour batter directly into bundt or muffin tins just over half full.
- Bake 10 minutes. Remove, allow to cool and trim any excess off with a cake knife. Flip onto a wired rack stacked over an easily cleanable surface.
- Combine glaze ingredients and microwave until pourable. Pour in a circular motion to cover most of your cupcakes. Allow to solidify a few minutes.
- Combine icing ingredients. Put into an icing bag with your favorite tip or cut the corner of a ziplock bag to insert your tip. Pipe onto your cupcakes.
- Refrigerate before serving.
This recipe is the “bomb”! The cupcakes go to the next level. I made this recipe four times before I got the “pink” in my cupcakes. I did add extra red food coloring, and used a cookies sheet with parchment paper on the bottom. Not to mention the only thing that made them cook all the way through were Wilton baking strips so the outside would not burn, but the inside cooked well. But, my final cupcake was amazing. The only other thing I did was to invert the cupcake into a bowl to glaze it. Insuring the whole cupcake was glazed. Thanks for the recipe. I LOVED IT!
I’ve made these twice! They are just delicious, but I keep getting a soft brown or tan cupcake. NOT PINK! How did you get them to stay pink? I’ve even turned my oven down to 325 degrees and they’re better, but still have a light brown color instead of pink. My other question is the glaze. I’ve made the glaze twice, but it seems that it is a milky color and does not come out as perfect as yours which is a clear glaze. HELP! I need them for a bridal shower and want them perfect just like yours. They really wowed me and are such a show stopper.
I used this recipe but made a double layer cake instead of cupcakes. I didn’t use the glazed just the icing. I also substituted Sparkling Cider for Champagne because the cake was for my sister’s office. It tasted wonderful, very light texture, and the icing was so fluffy.
Hi Allie! That is NEVER a bad idea! So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing. Happy New Year!
I made the without the pink champagne 🙁 BUT used sparkling red grape juice. The tasted really good and all the little kids got Bundt cakes and sparkling juice to drink. It was fun and yummy. Thanks for your recipe!
That works, too! Glad you enjoyed them!
Can these be frozen for latter decorating and if so how long.
Yes, up to 3 months covered in an airtight container. Enjoy!
These look wonderful. I would love to make them but do not use cake mixes. They are difficult to obtain here. Where can I find a recipe that allows me to add enough champagne?
How long would you bake for if you’re using a cupcake tin?
Same – they’re the same size. Just use the toothpick test. When it’s inserted into the middle of your center cupcake and comes out clean, it’s done! Enjoy!
Super delicious / thank you for recipe
Thank you, Anna!
Can the finished decorated cakes be refrigerated for up to a week or just undecorated?
Covered, decorated. Enjoy!
When looking at the recipe I see the cake and butter cream frosting but not the glaze recipe . Would love
To make these for
A baby shower. They look
So yummy. Thanks
I’m sorry, I sent to my tech person, but it is in the recipe card. Enjoy!
Thank you . Should the champagne be room temp?
It can be chilled, but doesn’t have to be.
These LOok amazing. Can I use a strawberry cake mix eliminating the need for dye? Should the champagne be room temp?
Absolutely! I bet there is dye in that though. They don’t have to be pink though.
Would love to bake these for baby shower.did you use a silicone Bundt?
Sorry I missed your email. This is the pan I use. It makes EVERYTHING beautiful!
I made these and they are delicious. I need to perfect the look for a bridal shower I am giving. Is the glaze meant to be super thin and runny almost? Also, what icing top did you use for the buttercream. I love the delicate look of your icing. Mine looked too heavy and perfect. Lastly, what cake mix do you prefer? I used a French vanilla but it had an almost grainy look as it used real vanilla bean in the mix.
Yes, it will drizzle over beautifully and harden. I believe I used open star
I use Pillsbury Moist Supreme. Enjoy!
Do you have a non-alcoholic flavor substitute you would suggest so that I can serve these at a kids birthday party?
Thank you.
I haven’t tested it, but sparkling grape juice should do it! Enjoy!
Julie, I was so very excited to make these beautiful mini Bundt cakes. I was so very disappointed when I took them out of the pan and they were brown… Just a nice light golden brown. I was expecting them to be pink like yours. I baked some at a lower heat… that didn’t help. I tried baking them for less than 10 minutes… but that wasn’t the answer either. Please help!!!
Oh no! I’m so sorry, Lynn! I’m more than happy to help you troubleshoot!
What kind of food coloring are you using? Liquid? If so, I’d add more. 6-8 drops should give you the result you’re hoping for. If you’re using paste, I’d use about 1/8 tsp pink paste.
Can’t wait to make these for my friends bridal shower! They will be perfect for the occasion.
Just whipped up a trial batch to make sure these would work for our Mother’s Day brunch – they are fabulous! Thanks!
Your gorgeous photos made me break out my mini Bundt pans! These did not disappoint! Beautiful and delicious!!!!
I loved this recipe! the taste was amazing…they were a big hit!
Perfect dessert for Mother’s Day brunch! Yum!
Oh my word, these are lovely! And they look easy to make which is even better as I often host large parties at our riverfront home and am always looking for impressive, yet easy recipes to add to the files. Your website is just stunning! I am an absolute sucker for pretty things and will start following you right now 🙂
I have never heard of these before but they sound wonderful. Thank you for sharing. I will now have to try them. They look wonderful.
They’re SO good. There’s really nothing like them. I’m not a big cake fan but can’t keep my hands off them. Enjoy!
Julie I think the recipe got a bit mixed up…is the really 7 cups of sugar in them? Please take a look at the posting on the website site.
I want to try them but wanted to be sure all is correct before making them…They look DEVINE!
It’s right – don’t judge. I promise you won’t regret it! Keep in mind it makes a nice sized batch, too. You are welcome to eliminate either the glaze or the icing, but I encourage you to try both. Enjoy!
The cupcakes were delicious..