Grapefruit Champagne Cupcakes

    The end of May is always a busy time for my family. There is Memorial Day, my father-in-law's birthday and my sister's birthday all in one weekend. For my father-in-law's birthday this year, I decided to make champagne cupcakes. It was kinda hard to think of a flavor that would go well with champagne cake that wouldn't take away too much from the champagne flavor. I usually use fresh fruit and vanilla mousse  to pair w/ champagne cake but this time I wanted to try something a little different and actually bake the flavor into the cupcake.  I decided that grapefruit would compliment the champagne flavor nicely. The first batch I made, I folded whipped egg whites into the cake batter aiming for a light and fluffy cake. For some reason, the texture of the cake turned out to be a bit rubbery. It might have been that I over mixed it somehow despite being careful and folding in the egg whites by hand. The second time around I didn't even bother and just added the egg whites plain into the creamed butter mixture. Turned out way better! Did the same the 3rd time and same great texture. I used a moscato pink champagne which is very sweet. As a result I only used 1 cup of sugar. If using dry champagne, I'd use at least 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of sugar.  I also used fresh grapefruit for everything. I only needed 2 large ones for the whole recipe including the buttercream. 

     Speaking of buttercream...for these cupcakes, I thought I would change it up a bit and make a french buttercream (use yolks instead of whites). EPIC failure. I don't know where I went wrong and honestly, I don't care because I will not try it ever again... or for a very LONG time. I just couldn't get the yolks to thicken properly and of course once I added the grapefruit juice, it was all downhill from there. It looked like it was turning out OK at first but once I started to pipe it, it literally began turning back into liquid form right before my eyes! The flavor wasn't "grapefruity" enough either. (It's very hard to make grapefruit flavor stand out in baking!) I had to scrap it all (what a waste of butter!) and start over again using my usual Italian buttercream recipe. Overall, it turned out so-so. The cake part is GJW so it's all good. I think the next time I make these cupcakes, I will try a traditional buttercream recipe, one that uses powdered sugar and butter. I think the grapefruit flavor will carry through a lot better. ANYways, here is the recipe for the cake part only because that was the only thing that came out consistently yummy.

Grapefruit Champagne Cupcakes

Ingredients:

-3 cups flour
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder

-3/4 tsp baking soda

-3/4 tsp salt

-1/2 cup veg. oil
-1/3 cup of unsalted butter room temp.
-1 cup sugar

-6 egg whites

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1 1/2 cups moscato champagne
-1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice
-1 tbsp grapefruit zest

*opt: a dab of red food coloring for pink hue

 Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Sift flour, baking powder and soda, salt and set aside
2. mix juice and champagne and set aside.
3.Cream butter sugar and oil until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix well.
4 Add egg whites little at a time and mix well
5. Alternating, add flour mixture and champagne mixture beginning and ending w/ flour. Scrape down sides and mix just until incorporated.
6. Bake and check for doneness at 15 minutes with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, cupcakes are done.
Cool completely before frosting.



I used little gold stars for garnish. (Wilton)