Whip up a batch of these elegant Sparkling Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes this Valentine’s day! They are fluffy, moist, and full of your favorite bubbly. In addition, they are topped with a strawberry champagne buttercream for a little extra booze on top as well. They would also be great for bridal showers, a fun night with friends, or just any time you want some dessert with your champagne.

How many of you have dressed up your champagne by dropping a strawberry in the glass? I definitely have! I also somethings do this thing where I mash up the strawberries and pour them in to make a strawberry mimosa-esque type of drink. Seems a little strange but a prime boozy brunch move. 😉

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes

It is February, and with Valentines day quickly approaching, what could be more romantic than strawberries and champagne? It’s simple, elegant, and a perfect flavor pairing. As you’re dreaming up what Valentines desserts you want to bake up this year, I’d recommend you give these strawberry champagne cupcakes a try!

However, these are in no way limited to a Valentine’s day dessert. They’re perfect for any celebration! Bridal showers, girls night, guys night, birthdays, New Years Eve, just wanting a dessert to go with champagne….the possibilities are endless!

Strawberry champagne cupcakes are fluffy, moist, and the best part is you can absolutely taste the champagne. Depending on what type of bubbly you use, you’ll get different flavor notes in your cupcakes, which I think is just so cool!

To further add some booziness and romance to this dessert, the cupcakes are frosted with a strawberry champagne buttercream, which gets a beautiful pink color from the use of freeze-dried strawberries. Sound good? Keep reading to learn how to make them!

Ingredients for Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes

This recipe yields around 14 cupcakes, so you’ll need 1-2 cupcake pans. Three of these 6-cup pans or two 12-cup pans will get the job done. Or…just make really big cupcakes and make a dozen instead of 14.

You can also make a non-strawberry version of this cake by checking out this classic champagne cupcake recipe.

For the cupcakes, you will need:

Strawberries: you can use fresh strawberries or frozen strawberries. If frozen, thaw before using.
Sparkling wine or champagne: see section below for recommendations
All-purpose flour
Cake flour: using a bit of cake flour in the batter helps give a very light and fluffy texture, which is reminiscent of how light and fizzy champagne is. However, if you do not have cake flour, then all-purpose flour is fine.
Baking soda and baking powder
Fine sea salt
Vanilla extract
Unsalted butter
Granulated cane sugar
One large egg and one large egg white: make sure both are at room temperature
Buttermilk

For the frosting, you will need:

Unsalted butter
Powdered sugar
More champagne
Heavy whipping cream or milk
Vanilla extract
Freeze-dried strawberries: this is what gives the frosting that beautiful pink color
Sea salt

What Type of Champagne to Use?

There are plenty of options to choose from for what to use in this recipe! And here’s the main criteria: use something you like. The reason I say this is that the cupcakes will contain flavor notes from whatever bubbly you choose.

It also doesn’t have to be Champagne! You see, while champagne has turned into a catch-all word for sparkling wine, it is actually a specific sparkling wine from the Champagne region in France. Prosecco, cava, sparkling moscato, pink moscato (shout out to all the Barefoot Bubbly Pink Moscato that I drank back in the early days of college haha), or any generic sparkling wine will work! Using a Pink Moscato or sparkling Rosé will also give these a lovely pink color.

I personally have loved baking with bubbly that falls into the medium-sweet end of the flavor spectrum. Something that’s not too dry, but also not the sweetest bottle money can buy. I find that these usually add a nice fruity sweetness to the cupcakes. I also like using Prosecco since it’s both fruity and floral.

Also, disclaimer, I am not a sommelier.

Where to Buy Freeze Dried Strawberries

Freeze-dried strawberries are what gives the buttercream frosting for these champagne cupcakes a beautiful pink color. While it may not seem like the most common ingredient, they’re actually relatively easy to find! Here are a few places where you can find them:

Trader Joes: look near the dried fruit and nuts
Target: also near where they have dried fruit and nuts. They’re sold under Target’s own brand Good & Gather.
Wal-Mart: Sold under the Great Value brand.
Whole Foods
Online at Thrive Market: you will need a membership, but if you love health food, then it’s worth it!
Check in the dried fruit aisle of your favorite grocery store as well! You may just be able to find them there.

Tips for Making Champagne Cupcakes

Don’t overmix the batter: Are you tired of hearing me say this on every single cake recipe yet? It’s so important though! Fold the flour in until it is just combined.
Use warm or room temperature ingredients: While it may be tempting to pull a bottle of bubbly out of the fridge, it’ll actually be better if it is at room temperature. Cold ingredients don’t mix very well into cake batter and will impact the cupcakes’ texture.
Test for doneness: to test whether the cupcakes are done, there are two ways. The first is to stick a toothpick in the middle and see if it comes out clean. The second (and my preferred method), is to gently tap the tops, which will bounce back once done.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section as you bake!

Did You Make This Recipe?

If you did, then I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment, rating, or take a picture and share it with me on Instagram @toppedwithhoney. Looking forward to seeing your elegant strawberry champagne cupcakes!

If you’re not ready to bake yet, no problem! Hover over any image in this post (tap if you’re on mobile), and then click the pin icon in the corner to save for later.

Have fun baking! And feel free to explore some other cupcake recipes here.

Let’s also connect on Instagram and/or Pinterest!