Champagne Cupcakes with Grapefruit Curd….and NEWS!
Yield: makes 16-18 cupakes
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1¾ cups flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ cup champagne, prosecco or your choice of sparkling wine
  • Grapefruit Curd:
  • 2 teaspoons grated grapefruit rind (about 2 grapefruit)
  • ⅔ cup fresh grapefruit juice
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
  • a drop of pink gel coloring
  • Champagne Frosting:
  • 1 cup plus 1 tbsp. champagne or prosecco
  • 2 sticks of butter softened
  • 2½ cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix.
  3. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. in a medium sized bowl, whisk together ½ cup champagne and ½ cup sour cream (mixture will fizz and bubble a little). Add flour and champagne mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Batter will be thick.
  4. Fill cupcake papers with ¼ cup level measures of batter. Bake for 17-22 minutes. Set aside.
For the Curd:
  1. Combine first 5 ingredients in the top of a double boiler, stirring well with a whisk. Cook over simmering water until thick (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. Strain juice mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Add butter, stirring well with a whisk. Cool completely.
For the Frosting:
  1. Place 1 cup of champagne in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Transfer to a small bowl or condiment cup and allow to cool.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream softened butter and powdered sugar together. Once the frosting is thick and fluffy, pour in the reduced 2 tbsp. champagne plus 1 tbsp. champagne from the bottle and mix well.
  3. With a small knife carve a cone shaped wedge out of the top of each cupcake. Slice off the very top part to put back over the filling. Spoon a tablespoon of curd into each cupcake, and replace the cake-top.
  4. Frost the cream-filled cupcakes and decorate!
Notes
I like lots of frosting on cupcakes- if you do as well, you may want to make a double batch (like I did.)
Recipe by The Baker Chick at https://www.thebakerchick.com/champagne-cupcakes-with-grapefruit-curd-and-news/