I love the idea of Champagne Trifle or Cupcakes for New Year's or any celebration where bubbly is required!
Starting from a cake mix saves you time so you can make the pastry cream and spend a bit more time decorating without the whole affair becoming too onerous.
There are many versions of Champagne Cupcakes online. I mixed and matched a number of recipes to end up with a champagne-infused cake, Champagne Pastry Cream and Champagne Frosting.
Sooo decadent! Sooo delicious!
The Cupcakes are perfect for a Buffet and the Trifle works well for both a Buffet or a sit-down meal.
The cupcakes are amazing, they keep well, freeze well and they are sturdy enough to eat easily out of hand.
But - the truth is - the first time I made the cupcakes I forgot to add the eggs to the cake mix. Don't ask... I was 'multi-tasking'. So.. the cupcakes were too soft to eat out of hand! My husband and I ate a few on a plate with a spoon and they still tasted amazing! Too bad I wasn't able to take them to my New Year's Eve party!!
Now the happy accident that followed.. I still had 9 crumbly cupcakes, a batch of pastry cream and a batch of icing... so I made them into a trifle!
Two small ones as a matter of fact! You can easily just make one large trifle using a bigger bowl.
And - the happy accident continues! I froze them! And they were delicious even after freezing! So I assume the cupcake version would freeze well too.
I was just trying to save the ingredients I had already made but next time I would put a layer of frozen cherries or roasted pears between the pastry cream and the top cake layer of the trifle.
Each serving should be about the size of what the cupcake would have been. It is quite decadent with that wonderful buttercream icing!
Either way you choose to make it - Enjoy!
Wine Pairing
More Champagne of course! The wine should be as sweet as the dessert so go for an off-dry Prosecco or sweet sparkling such as Asti Spumante (or another Muscat wine). Look for Demi-sec or Doux on the label to steer you in the right direction.
Champagne Trifle
If you tried this, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know it went in the 📝 comments below!
Save Print Pin FacebookIngredients
Cake
- 1 white cake mix
- sparkling wine to replace the water called for in the cake mix Prosecco works well.
Pastry Cream
- ½ cup (125 ml) 35% cream (Heavy cream) divided ¼ + ¼ (60 + 60 ml)
- 2 Tbsps corn starch
- ½ cup (125ml) sparkling wine same as you use in the cake mix above
- 5 Tbsps (66 grams) sugar
- 1 whole egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 Tbsps (30 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Frosting
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (250 + 15 ml) sparkling wine Same sparkling wine as you used for the cake and cream
- 1 cup (225 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 ½ cups (325 grams) icing sugar
- sprinkles for decorating
Other - For Trifle only
- 1 ½ cups (210 grams) frozen sweet cherries or roasted pear, diced or fruit of your choice
Instructions
Cake/Cupcakes
- Make cake mix according to instructions on the box EXCEPT replace the water called for with sparkling wine. Bake according to instructions for cake or cupcakes depending on which you are making.
- While the cake or cupcakes are baking, make the pastry cream.
Pastry Cream
- Whisk cornstarch into first ¼ cup (60 ml) cream. Set aside.
- Bring the remaining cream, sugar, sparkling wine to a boil over medium heat.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg and egg yolks together and beat in the cream and cornstarch mixture.
- Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) of the hot champagne/cream mixture into the egg/cream mixture. Whisk it constantly so the hot mixture does not cook the egg mixture.
- Whisk the egg/cream mixture into the remaining cream/champagne mixture on the stove. Allow to heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. As soon as it is thick remove from the heat and beat in butter and vanilla.
- Allow the pastry cream to cool slightly and cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface of the custard so it doesn't form a skin. Cool completely.
Frosting
- While the cake/cupcakes and pastry cream are cooling make the frosting.
- Simmer 1 cup (250 ml) of sparkling wine in a sauce pan until reduce to about 2 Tbps (30 ml). Allow it to cool.
- Cream butter and icing sugar together. When thick and fluufy add the 2 Tbsps (30 ml) reduced champagne and the 1 tablespoon (15 ml) champagne and beat well. Add more icing sugar if necessary to maintain a firm mixture that will hold its shape.
Assembly Trifle (See below for Cupcakes)
- When the cake is cool break it into small pieces.
- In a 10" (25 cm) trifle bowl, (preferably a see through glass bowl with high sides) layer ½ the cake pieces on the bottom of the bowl. Layer the pastry cream over the cake layer. Add the fruit layer over the pastry cream. Top with the remaining half of the cake pieces.
- Pipe the icing over the top cake layer in a decorative pattern. Decorate with gold sprinkles or decorations of your choice.
Assembly Cupcakes
- When cupcakes are cool carefully scoop out a hollow in each cupcake (you are going to replace the hollowed out bit later). Fill the hollow with a dollop of pastry cream.
- Trim the bottom of the hollowed out piece flat and replace it over the pastry cream filling to complete the cupcake top again.
- Pipe the frosting on each cupcake and decorate with sprinkles as desired.
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