If you need the perfect New Year's Eve dessert, look no further than these champagne cupcakes! With a simple champagne reduction in both the cupcakes and the buttercream frosting, these are sure to be the star of any New Year's party!

champagne cupcakes with glass and bottle of champagne

Make the Champagne Reduction

I like to make a champagne reduction for these cupcakes because the flavor is much more concentrated than regular champagne and it incorporates much better into the buttercream.

You can use any champagne or sparkling wine to make these cupcakes!

In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup champagne to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once boiling, reduce to medium heat and allow to simmer until reduced down to a little less than ½ cup, about 15 minutes.
Set aside to cool completely. You want it room temperature or cold before adding it to the buttercream. You can let it cool in the fridge or make it up to 3 days in advance.

cupcake decorating tips

Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!!
To decorate all of my cakes and cupcakes, I use this Wilton Decorating Kit* and I love it! It’s super easy to use and has a ton of tips in different sizes. For these cupcakes, I used the 1M tip*.
I also sprinkled some edible gold dust* on top for extra shimmer!

If you make these champagne cupcakes, please leave us a star rating and review at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers! Happy baking!

Champagne Cupcakes

Author: Kyleigh Sage
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x

Print Recipe

Scale

Ingredients

Champagne Reduction

1 cup champagne or sparkling wine

Cupcakes

1 ½ cups cake flour (substitute all purpose flour)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons champagne reduction
½ cup whole milk

Champagne Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons champagne reduction

Instructions

Champagne Reduction

In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of champagne to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once boiling, reduce to medium heat and allow to simmer until reduced down to a little less that ½ cup, about 15 minutes.
Set aside to cool completely. You want it to be room temperature or cold before adding it to the buttercream. You can let it cool in the fridge or make it up to 3 days in advance.

Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and champagne reduction together until combined.
Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in the milk and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thin.
Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Champagne Buttercream

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
Add in the champagne reduction 1 tablespoon at a time until fully combined. Beat the buttercream for 3-4 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy.
Frost cooled cupcakes. I used a Wilton 1M tip for these photos.