Pink champagne cake is a white layer cake where sparkling rosé or pink champagne takes the place of milk, with more wine whipped into the buttercream. This recipe makes three 8 inch layers, enough for 12 to 14 slices, and takes about 2 hours from start to finish. Most of that is cooling. The crumb is soft and fine, and it tastes of vanilla and almond with a light, fruity tang.
One thing matters more than anything else: temperature. Set the wine, sour cream and egg whites out before you start. Cold liquid hitting creamed butter is what makes this batter lumpy.
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It is a white cake made with egg whites only, which keeps the crumb pale enough to show a soft pink. The liquid is 1 cup of sparkling wine plus ½ cup of sour cream. Both are acidic. That acidity keeps the layers tender and balances the sweet buttercream.
It does not taste like a glass of wine. Think of a good vanilla cake with a bright, slightly fruity finish. The frosting tastes a little more of the wine, because it never sees the oven.
The pink is mostly food coloring. Rosé only gives the batter a faint blush, and baking dulls it further, so a drop or two of pink gel is what you actually see in the slice. Made with white sparkling wine and no color, the same recipe becomes a white champagne cake.
Three 8 Inch Layers: Times, Temps and Yield
- Yield: one 3 layer 8 inch cake, 12 to 14 slices
- Oven: 350°F (175°C), 22 to 26 minutes
- Time: 30 minutes prep, about 25 minutes baking, 1 hour cooling
- Wine: 1 cup in the batter and 6 tablespoons in the buttercream; a 750 ml bottle holds about 3 cups, so one bottle is plenty
- Eggs: 4 large egg whites at room temperature
- Buttercream: 1 ½ cups butter and 5 cups powdered sugar, enough to fill and cover the cake
Brut Rosé, Prosecco or Sparkling Grape Juice?
Buy a dry bottle. Brut rosé or a dry pink champagne brings berry notes without adding sweetness, and the sugar in this recipe is set for a dry wine. Sweet sparkling wines such as Moscato push the cake toward sugary and wash out the tang.
Any light, dry sparkling wine works, prosecco and cava included; lean on the gel color for the pink. Baking for children? Sparkling grape juice with a squeeze of lemon bakes well. It tastes sweeter and more like grape, and the lemon puts back some of the acidity the wine would have given.
The bubbles are not what raises this cake. The tablespoon of baking powder does most of the lifting, helped by the baking soda reacting with the acidic wine and sour cream, so a bottle opened an hour earlier is fine. Whisk the 1 cup of room temperature wine with the sour cream until smooth, as in the photo, and add the gel color here. Mixing these two first stops the sour cream leaving small lumps in the batter.
Mixing the Batter Without Curdling It
Sift the 2 ¾ cups of cake flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cake flour has less protein than all purpose flour, and that is where the fine, velvety crumb comes from. All purpose flour on its own gives a drier, coarser layer.
Beat the ¾ cup of softened butter with 1 ¾ cups of sugar on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes. You want it pale, fluffy and almost like frosting. Add the egg whites one at a time, unwhipped, beating well after each. Then the vanilla and the almond extract.
Does it look curdled after the whites? They were probably a little cold. Keep beating for another minute, as the bowl warms it usually comes back together. Then add the flour in three parts, alternating with the wine mixture in two, starting and ending with flour. Stop the mixer the moment the last streak of flour disappears. A white cake overmixed at this stage bakes up tough and rubbery.
The almond extract is optional, yet it is what makes the cake taste like more than vanilla. Almond lovers can raise it to 1 teaspoon and skip the vanilla.
Baking and Cooling the Layers
Grease three 8 inch pans and line the bottoms with parchment. Soft batters like this one stick even to nonstick pans. Divide the batter evenly (a kitchen scale makes it quick) and bake at 350°F for 22 to 26 minutes. Wet cake strips wrapped around the pans slow down the edges and give flatter tops.
Start checking at 22 minutes. The center should spring back when you press it lightly, and a toothpick should come out clean. If your finger leaves a dent, give it 2 more minutes. Edges that have pulled well away from the pan mean the layers went too long and will be dry.
Leave the layers in their pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack until completely cool, about an hour. Warm cake melts buttercream and the layers start to slide.
Whipping the Champagne Buttercream
Beat the 1 ½ cups of softened butter until smooth. Add the 5 cups of sifted powdered sugar one cup at a time on low speed. Pour in the 6 tablespoons of wine, the vanilla and a pinch of salt, then whip on medium high for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Sift the sugar even if it looks fine: small lumps never beat out and leave the frosting gritty.
Butter temperature decides the texture. It should dent under your finger and still feel cool. Shiny, greasy butter gives a runny buttercream; chill the whole bowl for 15 minutes and whip again. Too stiff to spread? Beat in another teaspoon of wine. If you want something less sweet and silkier, this cake also takes a Swiss meringue buttercream well, with the wine beaten in at the end.
Stacking and Frosting Three Layers
Level any domed tops with a serrated knife. Set the first layer on a board, spread an even layer of buttercream, and repeat with the second and third. Cover the whole cake in a thin crumb coat and chill it for 15 minutes so the crumbs are locked in. Then add the final coat and smooth the sides with a bench scraper. Chill again for 20 minutes before slicing; the cuts come out much cleaner.
A fruity middle works too: use strawberry cake filling or raspberry cake filling between the layers instead of buttercream. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of each layer first, so the filling cannot squeeze out under the weight of the cake above.
When the Layers Sink, Dome or Stick
- Sunken centers: the layers came out before the middle sprang back, or the baking powder and soda are old. Check the dates and trust the touch test over the timer.
- Dense, heavy crumb: cold ingredients or too much mixing after the flour went in.
- Tall domes and cracks: the oven runs hot or the pans were unevenly filled. Use cake strips, weigh the batter, and level the tops before stacking.
- Layers stuck to the pan: no parchment. Line the bottoms every time with this batter.
- Color faded in the oven: liquid food coloring or too little gel. Add gel to the wine and sour cream mixture, where it spreads evenly.
Cupcakes, Strawberry and Alcohol Free Versions
Pink champagne cupcakes bake in paper liners in 16 to 18 minutes. A strawberry champagne cake needs only 1 tablespoon of freeze dried strawberry powder stirred into the batter. And an alcohol free cake uses sparkling grape juice with a squeeze of lemon in both the batter and the buttercream.
Want a pink cake with no wine at all? Try the pink lemonade cake or this strawberry vanilla cake. My vanilla cake recipe is a plain white base to decorate your own way, and the Raffaello cake or a simple birthday cake sit well beside this one on a party table.
Does Pink Champagne Cake Have Alcohol?
Yes, a little. Baking drives off part of the alcohol in the layers but not all of it, and the buttercream is never cooked, so its 6 tablespoons of wine keep their alcohol. Spread over 12 to 14 slices, that is roughly 1 ½ teaspoons of wine per slice. It is a small amount, but for children, pregnant guests or anyone avoiding alcohol, make the grape juice version.
Storing the Cake Before the Party
A frosted pink champagne cake keeps for up to 2 days at room temperature under a cake dome or in an airtight container. In the fridge it keeps for up to 5 days. Let slices sit out for 20 to 30 minutes before serving, because cold buttercream turns firm and the crumb tastes dry.
To work ahead, bake the layers, wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap and then foil, and freeze them unfrosted for up to 2 months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge, still wrapped, and frost on the day. Chilled layers are easier to stack, too.
Pink Champagne Cake Recipe
This pink champagne cake is a fluffy white layer cake made with cake flour, egg whites, sour cream, and sparkling rosé or pink champagne, finished with a champagne buttercream. It takes about 2 hours including cooling and bakes three 8 inch layers for 12 to 14 slices. The wine and sour cream replace the milk in a typical white cake, and their acidity keeps the crumb tender with a light, fruity tang. Serve it as a champagne birthday cake, a bridal shower or anniversary cake, or a New Year's Eve dessert, or bake the batter as pink champagne cupcakes. For an alcohol free cake use sparkling grape juice with lemon. It keeps 2 days at room temperature or 5 days in the fridge.
Ingredients
- FOR THE CAKE
- 2 ¾ cups cake flour (sifted)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract (optional, but highly recommended)
- 1 cup pink champagne or sparkling rosé (room temperature)
- ½ cup sour cream (room temperature)
- Pink gel food coloring (optional, for a deeper hue)
- FOR THE CHAMPAGNE BUTTERCREAM
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened
- 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 6 tbsp pink champagne or sparkling rosé
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Pink gel food coloring (optional)
Instructions
PREHEAT AND PREP PANS: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper to help the layers release cleanly after baking.
SIFT DRY INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set the bowl aside.
CREAM BUTTER AND SUGAR: In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes until light and fluffy.
ADD EGG WHITES AND EXTRACTS: Add the egg whites one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract and almond extract if using.
MIX CHAMPAGNE AND SOUR CREAM: In a separate bowl, whisk together the pink champagne and sour cream until smooth. If you want a deeper pink color in the cake, stir in a small amount of pink gel food coloring now.
COMBINE WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the champagne mixture. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Mix just until the batter is smooth and no streaks of flour remain.
BAKE THE CAKE: Evenly divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake for 22 to 26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM: In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing on low until combined. Pour in the pink champagne, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Increase to medium-high speed and whip the buttercream until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add a small amount of pink gel food coloring if desired.
ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Once the cake layers are completely cool, level them if needed. Place one layer on a serving plate or cake board. Spread a layer of buttercream on top, then repeat with the second and third layers. Frost the top and sides with the remaining buttercream.
DECORATE AND SERVE: Smooth the frosting with an offset spatula or bench scraper, then decorate as desired with sprinkles, piped rosettes, or fresh flowers. Chill for 20 minutes before slicing for cleaner cuts.
Notes
Bring the sparkling wine, sour cream and egg whites to room temperature first; cold liquid makes the creamed butter curdle. Use a dry brut rosé or dry pink champagne; prosecco or cava also work, with gel coloring for the pink. Sweet sparkling wine makes the cake too sweet. For an alcohol free version use sparkling grape juice with a squeeze of lemon in both cake and buttercream. Use gel food coloring, not liquid. The layers are done when the center springs back. Freeze unfrosted layers, wrapped in plastic and foil, for up to 2 months. Store the frosted cake airtight at room temperature for 2 days or in the fridge for 5 days, and bring slices to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 666Total Fat 16gSaturated Fat 10gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 42mgSodium 309mgCarbohydrates 122gFiber 0gSugar 102gProtein 3g
