Strawberries and Champagne Cupcakes!

So I was making these cupcakes tonight for a birthday party order tomorrow (While watching Pretty Woman).... They had to be strawberry.... So I developed this recipe a few days ago and it turned out AWESOME and I was sooo pleased.... But then I realized I had made a little too much batter... At the exact moment I was about to just bake off the rest of the cupcakes... The scene where Julia Roberts is eating strawberries with her champagne came on.... And there you go...

Strawberries and Champagne Cupcakes!

 

 Ingredients:

3 cups                                  Cake flour (not self rising)
2 tsp.                                    Baking powder
1 tsp.                                    Sea salt, fine
1 and 1/2 cups                     Unsalted butter, room temp
2 and 1/4 cups                     Sugar
1/2 tsp.                                Pure vanilla extract
1 cup                                   Milk
8                                          Egg whites
1 cup                                   Strawberries, pureed
                                            Champagne, for brushing


Pre-heat oven to 350. Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a stand mixer with fitted paddle, cream together butter and 2 cups of sugar. Beat in vanilla. Add milk alternately with flour mixer scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. In another bowl with a hand mixer, whisk egg whites gradually adding remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg white mixture into batter. Fold in strawberries. Bake until done (toothpick comes out clean).

Once cupcakes are cooled completely, poke about 8 holes in the cupcakes with a toothpick and brush with champagne.

Champange buttercream:

1 cup                                      Unsalted butter, room temp
4-6 cups                                    Powdered sugar
4 tbls.                                     Champagne
                                               Red food color or extra strawberry puree



Beat butter until lightened. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until fully incorporated. Beat in champagne and red food color (if desired).