Champagne Cake

Folk who follow this here web thing-y will be aware that I have made a ton of “soda cakes” – cakes made with a cake mix and a can (12 ounces) of soda, and nothing else.

I’ve made a Dr. Pepper Espresso Cake, a Ginger Beer Spice Cake, a Strawberry Soda Cake, and more, so, I got to thinking…

If soda and cake mix works, how’s about champagne? It’s fizzy. It’s kinda sweet (even though I used extra dry sparkling wine), what could go wrong?

Nothing, as it turns out.

Champagne works a treat with cake mix and, the best part?

Just as with the soda, you only need 12 ounces of bubbly to make a fine, fluffy cake, so you get to drink the rest!

So.

Recap.

You get a cake. You get a couple of glasses of bubbly. Life it good!

A note on the bubbles. We have several very nice bottles of bubbly in our wine racks, but I was not gonna pour a $40 or more bottle of wine into a cake mix! So, bonus, Barefoot Bubbly, which our local market has on sale for $7.50, makes a pretty darned nice Extra Dry! They also have a Brut, a Moscato, and a Pink Moscato, so you are pretty well covered for inexpensive, but tasty bubbles.

Back to the cake, I went strawberry for this one, and a cream cheese frosting, but I would think a yellow cake would work as well. Play around and fine your favorite combination.

INGREDIENTS
Cake:
•1 super moist cake mix
•12 oz champagne

Frosting:
•8 oz cream cheese, softened
•1 stick butter, softened
•2 cups confectioners’ sugar
•1 tsp vanilla
•1/8 tsp salt (if you use unsalted butter)
•Black pepper – trust me on this

Heat your oven according to cake mix directions and prepare a cake pan(s). I was bringing this cake to a gathering, so chose a 13×9 pan for ease of transport.

Add the champagne to the cake mix in a bowl and mix according to package instructions.

Note: you do not need eggs, oil, water, or anything else, just the 12 ounces of champagne and the cake mix.

Don’t forget to enjoy the rest of that bottle of bubbly while the cake is baking.

Transfer the batter to your prepared pan and bake according to package instructions. I would recommend checking on your cake at the earlier end of the tome range. I checked mine at 30 minutes and the surface cracked a bit. The cake, however, was terrific; and, it’s gonna be frosted so, what’s a crack or three?

Set the cake on a rack to cool while you make the frosting.

Add the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, salt (if using unsalted butter) and black pepper to a mixing bowl and whip until blended and fluffy.

A note on the pepper: I learned this trick from a chef in Baltimore and that little bit of a peppery bite brings out the richness of the frosting.

Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat on low (you don’t want that stuff flying all over the place) until it has been blended in with the cheese and butter, then increase the speed and beat until light and fluffy.

Frost the cake and enjoy.