Pink Champagne Cupcakes Filled with Sakura Liqueur Cream

This post is also available in（こちらの言語版もある）: Japanese

“Hanami” is often translated as “cherry blossom viewing,” but that doesn’t do it justice. As far as I understand it, “hanami” is the time-honored Japanese tradition of drinking alcohol underneath the cherry blossoms. Cherry blossom season is short lived (a couple of weeks, really), so once the trees start to blossom, everyone–families, young people, the elderly–pack a picnic, plenty of beer (or alcoholic beverage of choice), head to a park, and spread out a tarp under the trees to celebrate the beginning of spring. It’s hard to convey to someone who has never experienced hanami just how big and widespread of a deal it is and how the energy even here in Tokyo takes a turn for the celebratory as soon as the sakura start to bloom, but hanami season is something that everyone looks forward to, myself included.

Hanami season last year was actually the origin of my so-called “cocktail cupcake” project (cupcakes based on cocktails or various alcoholic drinks): I wanted to bake something to bring for everyone to share and aesthetically-pleasing little cupcakes spiked with alcohol seemed like they invoked the main elements of hanami nicely: sharing drinks under the aesthetic beauty of the sakura. In fact, the very first “cocktail cupcakes” that I made to bring to the first round of hanami last year were pink champagne cupcakes and they were so well-received that I was thinking I would make them again to ring in this year’s hanami season.

The ones I made last year didn’t have any kind of filling so I was originally thinking of switching things up and filling them with pink champagne pastry cream this time around, but I bought some sakura liqueur on a whim and decided to hop on the seasonal trend and try filling the cupcakes with sakura liqueur pastry cream instead. I wasn’t sure if the sakura liqueur would even taste good with the champagne cake and frosting, but the fruity sweetness of the sakura liqueur ended up complimenting the more subtle flavor of the champagne quite nicely and the friends who ate the cupcakes all said they were tasty and seemed to enjoy them. I brought 36 or so of them and there were only a few left, but one of my friends asked me hopefully if he might take them home and when I said “yes, please do” he seemed thrilled, so I’m calling that a sign of success.

Speaking of success, since I had such good luck using this pink champagne cake and frosting recipe to make those pink champagne rose cake pops and the friend who cannot eat wheat for whom I made the gluten free absinthe cake bites would be joining us for hanami, I tried baking a gluten free version of these cupcakes as well. The flavor came out exactly the same and while the texture of the gluten free cakes came out a bit more sponge-y than the gluten ones, it wasn’t really unpleasant and my friend raved that they didn’t seem like gluten free baked goods at all. Considering how many gluten free baked goods either taste strange or have a weird texture, I was quite relived to hear that and am sharing the gluten free ingredient substitutes in the detailed recipe down below as well. I definitely recommend making up a batch of the gluten free version if someone with a wheat allergy will be joining you for hanami–that person will be happy and everyone else won’t know the difference★

Pink Champagne Mini Cupcakes Filled with Sakura Liqueur Cream

 

Print（印刷）

Prep time（準備時間）

40 mins（分）

Cook time（加熱時間）

15 mins（分）

Total time（合計時間）

55 mins（分）

 

Pink champagne mini cupcakes filled with sakura liqueur pastry cream perfect for sharing with drinks under the cherry blossoms or really any time this spring☆

Author（投稿者）: Xiomare Entropy (Adapted from Tattooed Martha and Sprinklebakes)

Recipe type（レシピカテゴリ）: Dessert

Cuisine（どこの料理）: American-Japanese fusion

Serves（何人分）: about 48 mini cupcakes

Ingredients （材料）

• For pink champagne cake:
• 1 cup (200g ) sugar
• ½ cup (114 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggｓ
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1¾ cup (224 g) all-purpose flour (or 1¾ cup (224 g) rice flour mixed with 1 tsp xanthan gum for gluten free)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup (122 g) Greek yogurt (or strained regular yogurt)
• ½ cup (100 ml) pink champagne or sparkling wine
• red food coloring
• For sakura liqueur pastry cream filling:
• ½ (100 ml) cup heavy cream, divided
• ½ (100 ml) sakura liqueur (I used Japone Sakura by Suntory)
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 5 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp (28 g) unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• For pink champagne frosting:
• ½ cup (114 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 cups (612 g) of powdered sugar
• ¼ cup (50 ml) pink champagne or sparkling wine
• 1 tsp vanilla
• red food coloring

Instructions（作り方）

1. Make pink champagne cake: Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) and prepare a mini cupcake pan.
2. In a small bowl mix together pink champagne, yogurt, and red food coloring. Set aside.
3. In another bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Add egg and vanilla and beat well on medium speed.
6. Add the flour mixture alternately with the champagne mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until well on low speed until combined.
7. Pour into prepared pan and bake 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Let cool completely.
9. Make sakura liqueur pastry cream filling: whisk together cornstarch and ¼ cup (50 ml) of cream in a medium bowl.
10. Add the egg and egg yolks and beat thoroughly with a hand mixer.
11. Put the remaining ¼ cup (50 ml) of cream, sugar, and sakura liqueur in a pot, bring to a boil, and then remove from heat.
12. Pour ⅓ of the boiling sakura liqueur mixture into the egg mixture and whisk constantly so the eggs don't cook.
13. Return the sakura liqueur mixture to a boil and slowly pour in the egg mixture while whisking.
14. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, then remove from heat and beat in the vanilla and butter.
15. Let the pastry cream cool a bit and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a fine tip.
16. Insert the tip into each cupcake and squeeze in a small amount of cream.
17. Make pink champagne frosting: whip the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
18. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix on medium speed until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.
19. Add the champagne and food coloring and mix on medium-high speed until combined and fluffy. If the frosting is too soft or runny, add more powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached.
20. Frost the cupcakes and enjoy!

Notes（コツ・ポイント・注意点）

★ I tend to make mini cupcakes as they are easier to share at large events like hanami and people are more likely to try an "exotic" cupcake flavor if they don't have to commit to a full size one, but you can always make these in a normal size cupcake pan as well. You will just get less cupcakes (likely about 12). You may also need to bake a little longer (15-20 min or so).
★ I bought the sakura liqueur I used from this Rakuten Ichiba seller here in Japan, but I admit I am not sure where one can procure it overseas. I would imagine some other variety of cherry liqueur might be alright, albeit a little different. Otherwise, you could just and just go for a champagne purist cupcake and use ½ cup (100 ml) of pink champagne in the pastry cream instead .
★ If you have leftover pastry cream you can store it in the fridge for a few days. I have also had pretty good luck freezing it, but from what I have read online the texture of pastry cream has gone funny on other people when they froze it so proceed at your own risk.

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Booze-y pastry cream recipe adapted from: http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2010/12/sparkling-champagne-cupcakes.html