If you need the perfect classy cupcake for New Year's Eve, look no further than these show stopping champagne grape cupcakes! The cupcakes are made with a champagne reduction, then filled with grape jelly, and topped with clusters of mini champagne grapes!
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Why You'll Love These Cupcakes!
These champagne grape cupcakes are perfect for entertaining! They would be a fun addition to a variety of occasions, such as:
- New Year's Eve party
- Bridal shower
- Bachelorette party
- Valentine's Day (or Galentine's Day) party
- Or any party that needs a classy, adult cupcake!
You might also like these rosé cupcakes or these champagne macarons!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these grape cupcakes!
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my cupcakes because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Champagne - You can use any champagne, prosecco, or sparkling wine to make these cupcakes! If you prefer rosé, you can make these rosé cupcakes!
Grape Jelly - Use your favorite grape jelly or grape jam! I love muscat grape jelly from Bonne Maman, but a classic concord grape jelly is also delicious!
Champagne Grapes - These mini grapes are optional, but a lovely garnish for these cupcakes. Champagne grapes (also know as black Corinth grapes or Zante currants) are a type of small grape that grow in tight clusters. They're sweet little flavor bombs that are perfect for eating alone or as a garnish for desserts, cheese boards, or glasses of champagne (hence the name). You can find champagne grapes at grocery stores like Whole Foods or Sprouts, or you can order them online from Melissa's Produce.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Champagne Cupcakes
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.
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.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup cupcake 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°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. Let the champagne cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.
Use a cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake, then fill with 1-2 teaspoons of grape jelly.
Frost the filled cupcakes with champagne buttercream and then garnish with a cluster of champagne grapes!
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Cupcake Decorating Tips
Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!!
Use a cupcake corer to easily remove the center of your cupcakes before filling with grape jam.
For these big beautiful frosting swirls on these champagne grape cupcakes, I use the 1M tip from this decorating kit. The tips are much larger than standard sizes and so fun for decorating cupcakes!
After frosting, garnish with whole clusters of champagne grapes.
Recipe FAQ's
These cupcakes will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, they taste best when served at room temperature! I like to let them sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving. Wait to top with champagne grapes until right before serving.
When making the champagne reduction, most of the alcohol cooks off but there is still a small amount present in the cupcakes.
No! You can also use prosecco or any other sparkling wine! You can also leave it out and go for a classic vanilla cupcake instead.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Champagne Grape Cupcakes
Ingredients
Champagne Reduction
- 1 cup champagne, or sparkling wine
Champagne Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons champagne reduction, cooled
- ⅓ cup whole milk
Champagne Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons champagne reduction, cold
Garnish
- ½ cup grape jelly
- champagne grapes
Instructions
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.
- 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.
Champagne Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup cupcake 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°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. Let the champagne cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Use a cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake, then fill with 1-2 teaspoons of grape jelly.
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 the filled cupcakes with champagne buttercream and then garnish with a cluster of champagne grapes!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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