Champagne & Berries Cake
Equipment
- 2 Cake Pans
Ingredients
- 1 cup Champagne or sparkling wine flat is fine!
- 1½ cups fresh or frozen mixed berries
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
- For the Champagne Syrup:
- ½ cup Champagne
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Champagne Buttercream
- 1¼ cups unsalted butter, room temperature (285g)
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tbsp Champagne reduction
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch salt
- 1-2 drops rose food coloring can use red - be very conservative to get the soft pink color
Instructions
- Make the Champagne reduction: In a small saucepan, simmer 1 cup Champagne over medium heat until reduced to ¼ cup (about 10 minutes). Let cool.
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
- Dry ingredients: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Cream: Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in vanilla and the cooled Champagne reduction.
- Combine: Alternately add dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. (Option: Gently fold in 1 cup of berries.)
- Bake: Pour into prepared pan and scatter remaining berries on top. Bake 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Make syrup: While cake bakes, combine ½ cup Champagne, ¼ cup sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Simmer 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Finish: While cake is still warm, poke holes with a skewer and brush with Champagne syrup. Let cool completely before frosting.
- Tip: Chill the cake to minimize crumbs while frosting
Making Frosting
- Beat butter until creamy
- Gradually add powdered sugar
- Beat in Champagne reduction + vanilla
- Adjust texture with sugar or loosen with a drop of Champagne
- Add coloring - aiming for blush
Decorrating - Once Frosted
- Top with raspberries strawberries and blueberries (do this right before serving)
- May accent with pink and gold sprinkles or gold leaf, sparklers for NYE
Notes
Wine Note
This is a cake built on effervescence and berry brightness, so it wants a pour with the same lift — something sparkling, fruit-kissed, and not too sweet, so the berries and the blush buttercream both have somewhere to go. Domaine Carneros Brut, Napa Valley (New World warm-climate): California's coolest sparkling-wine pocket still runs warmer than Champagne proper, and it shows in fruit that leans riper — orchard fruit and strawberry over citrus. That strawberry note in the glass is a direct echo of the berries folded into the cake and scattered on top, and the wine's own toasty, brioche-like undertone from traditional-method aging mirrors the cake's buttery crumb. Champagne, Brut Rosé (Old World classic origin): A Champagne rosé closes the loop the recipe already opens — the cake itself is built with Champagne reduction and syrup, so pouring the real thing alongside it is echo logic in its purest form. The wine's red-berry fruit and fine, persistent bubble cut cleanly through the buttercream's richness, while its bracing acidity keeps each bite from feeling heavy. Together, the two pairings give this cake both directions of its own DNA: the New World glass leans into the fruit, the Old World glass leans into the Champagne itself.Nutrition
Calories: 654kcalCarbohydrates: 86gProtein: 4gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 20gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 124mgSodium: 95mgPotassium: 103mgFiber: 1gSugar: 72gVitamin A: 1031IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 65mgIron: 1mg
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