31 May Bellini Cupcakes {Champagne + Peach}
HOLY CELEBRATION PEACHES ARE BACK! Sweet, juicy, glorious peaches! We are still at the very tip of the season, but as soon as I saw them show up at my local market I couldn’t resist snagging a few.
Tip: When picking out ripe peaches, use your schnoz. The ripest, juiciest peaches will be the most fragrant. Since it’s early in the season, I ended up smelling like 50 peaches before finding a bunch I was satisfied with. But hey, I’m working towards perfection here. Only the best for my fresh peach curd.
Have you ever had a Bellini? They’re a popular brunch cocktail and a close cousin to the Mimosa. Instead of orange juice, they’re made with peach puree.
If you need to go try one right now, I understand. Since they’re technically a “brunch” cocktail, you can get away with drinking one at any time of the day. Before noon? Go for it. Or you can just make these Bellini Cupcakes – you’ll have plenty of left over champagne for a post baking cocktail.
This recipe takes the tasty combination of peaches and champagne and converts them into boozy, fancy cupcake form. The champagne cake is fluffy and sweet, and the perfect complement to the creamy peach curd filling.
The experts say that you should always cook with a wine that you would drink by the glass. It makes sense because when you cook wine down, you’re intensifying the flavor. I try to stick to this rule with baking as well. I used a bottle of $10 champagne – not the bottom shelf stuff but definitely nothing fancy. The champagne flavor of the cupcakes is fairly subtle though, so if you’re on a budget you could definitely get away with a less than $5 bottle. You can also use Prosecco or sparkling wine. Whatever floats your boat.
As if you needed more motivation, these cupcakes got rave reviews from my coworkers. My boss went so far as to say that they may be my best batch yet! Enjoy!
Note: The peach curd recipe calls for fresh peach puree. To make peach puree simply peal and slice fresh peaches, throw them in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites
- 1 1/4 sticks butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cups champagne
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp champagne
- 1/4 cup peach curd
- Orange food coloring, optional
- 4 egg yolks
- 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 cup peach puree from fresh peaches (about 4 peaches)
- 6 tsp butter
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners.
- In a large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Alternate adding the flour mixture and the champagne to the butter & sugar mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Mix until well combined.
- Fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter, and then fold in the remaining 2 thirds.
- Pour batter into cupcake liners and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl beat the yolks, sugar & peach puree and lemon juice until well blended.
- Pour into a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat and whisk constantly until thickened.
- Remove from heat and beat in the butter, 1 tsp at a time.
- Set aside to cool. The curd will continue to thicken as it cools.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter until light and fluffy.
- Add champagne and peach curd.
- Add powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments until desired sweetness and consistency is reached.
- Add in orange food coloring and mix until color is even throughout. (optional)
- Using a serrated knife or spoon, scoop out a small amount from the center of each cooled cupcake.Reserve the cut out piece.
- Spoon cooled peach curd into the center of each cupcake (approximately 1-2 tsp per cupcake) and replace the cut out pieces.
- Fit a pastry bag with the decorating tip of your choice, fill with frosting and ice cupcakes.
- Decorate with sprinkles or as desired.
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