Pink Champagne Cupcakes

                These are fabulous and easy to make.  Also?  No need for them to be pink – you can make them any color!

                The recipe can also be found on Betty Crocker’s website (linky).

Cupcakes

1 box Betty Crocker white cake mix

1 ¼ cup champagne

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 egg whites

4 – 5 drops red food coloring

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Line baking pan with paper baking cups. (I bought some fun ones from KitchenKapers.)

In a large bowl, mix dry cake mix and champagne.  Add oil, egg whites and food coloring.  You are really free to make the cupcakes whatever color you want – the batter is white and a blank slate!

Fill each cupcake liner ~ 2/3 full.

Bake 17 – 22 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Place on baking rack to cool.

Icing

Betty Crocker offers a champagne frosting based on butter, powdered sugar and champagne.  I’m super duper picky about icing and really think that only cream cheese frosting should exist.  I purchased some cream cheese frosting because I was in a rush, but several recipes are out there to make your own! 

I added a few drops of red food coloring to the frosting and mixed until it was nearly the same color as the cupcakes.

Then, I used a pastry bag with a star tip: 

I have a mechanical pastry bag (like this) from Target, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth.  I only break it out for certain things and would much prefer a real pastry bag.  You can even make your own star tip by cutting the tip of a Ziploc bag.  

Anyway, I started from the outside of the cupcake and moved in a spiral inward.  To give it a nice tip at the end, I held the bag upright in the center, pushed a bit more icing out, stopped and pulled directly upward.

I then sprinkled clear sugar on the pink icing as a finishing touch!

Eat me.