Champagne with Raspberry Cupcakes

I love the story of how I met my friend Britney.  It’s one those “it’s such a small world” moments.  Britney had posted an ad for her babysitting services on our Wiesbaden military community Craigslist-esq site.  I was in the market for a babysitter and inquired.  Of course, being the cautious mommy I was, I went to Facebook to see if I could get an impression of her before we met.  Turns out we have a mutual friend.  Not a mutual friend here in Wiesbaden but a mutual friend from Iowa.  We both contacted our mutual friend Emily and soon discovered that we grew up in the same town, went rival high schools and were a year apart.  Even crazier she now she lives directly across the street from my Stairwell 10 in Stairwell 9 with the same apartment number 1.  Weird.

 

We arranged to meet and I knew I would either have a new babysitter or a new friend.  My attitude was in “mom” mode when we met just in case it turned out to be the former.  She came by, I had Sesame Street music on in the back ground and I offered her a cup of coffee or tea like the good Southern Girl I was raised.  After chatting with her a bit and reminiscing about good ol’ Des Moines, I felt that I set the stage all wrong.  Instead of Sesame Street and Tea, I felt like turning on some 80’s dance music and popping open a bottle of champagne.  Not because we are alcoholics wanting to drink at 10 in the morning, but because she is that much fun.  I liked her immediatly.  

Britney has this bubbly, rock star, but genuine personality.  Her business profile for BB Design Photography, states “there is glitter in my veins”.  She has a passion for all things creative and makes things that I wouldn’t be shocked to see at a local boutique.    We share interests in photography, design, Audrey Hepburn, Glee, among other things yet our personalities are very different.  While I can’t say the same for her, I adore her Summer Brights personality to my Autumn Neutrals.  

When Brittney sent out invitations for a house warming party with a request to bring something delicious, I had a mini panic attack.   I wanted to bring something tasty yet something that reflected her.  I searched the biggest recipe box known to man (Google) and combined a few different recipes to create this fabulous. sparkly, and bubbly creation below.   Serve these with a bottle of champagne on your next girls’ night in… and don’t forget the glitter.

Champagne with Raspberry Cupcakes

1 Box White Cake Mix

1 ¼ cup Champagne (cheap is fine, save the Dom Perigon for drinking)

1/3 cup Canola Oil

3 Egg Whites

2 tbsp Seedless Raspberry Preserves

Champagne and Raspberry Frosting

1 cup butter at room temperature

6 TBSP Raspberry Preserves

4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup Champagne

Heat oven to 325F.  Place cupcake liners in regular size muffin tins.

In a large bowl, mix cake mix and champagne.  Add oil, eggs, and raspberry.  Use and electric mixer and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  Divide evenly into muffin cups.  Bake about 20 minutes turning halfway through for more even cooking.  Cool for about 10 minutes and remove from pan to cool completely before frosting.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter and raspberry preserve to a smooth consistency.  Add champagne, mix, and then add powder sugar one cup at a time.  Beat with mixer until smooth*

Put frosting in a bakers bag or large ziplock bag with the end snipped off and frost cupcakes.  Add pink sugar, silver glitter sprinkles, pearls, and a raspberry garnish.  Enjoy!

*The raspberry preserves seemed to separate slightly from the frosting bind.  I’m not sure if this was the cause but I discovered that the preserves I used were “sugar free” and made with Splenda.  While it didn’t affect the taste and added a neat shimmery appearance, I’ll use 100% raspberry preserves next time.