Jane's Patisserie » Recipes » Best Baking Recipes » Prosecco Cupcakes!
Prosecco Cupcakes!
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details!*
These elegant Boozy Prosecco Cupcakes combine a light, fluffy sponge with a sweet prosecco-infused drizzle and a rich, velvety buttercream frosting. Topped with prosecco-soaked raspberries and decadent truffles, they take 20 minutes to prep and just 18 minutes to bake, making them the perfect effortless treat for any party.
Notes from The Patisserie
Whether it’s the start of a new year or you’re just hosting a weekend gathering, cupcakes are the ultimate crowd-pleaser. You don’t have to worry about slicing a giant cake, you can just hand them out as you go. If you find yourself with leftover bottles after a big party, this is the absolute best way to use them up. It’s elegant, fun, and completely delicious.
Baking with your favourite sparkling wine is a brilliant way to turn a simple cupcake into something worthy of a big celebration. The trick to getting that distinct, bubbly flavour entirely through the bake without altering the texture of the cake is to use a concentrated syrup. Pouring a homemade prosecco drizzle directly over the cupcakes ensures every single bite is incredibly moist and flavourful.
Prosecco cupcakes
To make sure the prosecco flavour runs all the way through each cupcake, you want to apply your drizzle the exact moment the tin comes out of the oven. While the cupcakes are piping hot, their structure is open and ready to pull the syrup deep down into the crumb. To get the perfect texture in your sponge I use:
- Butter – unsalted block butter at room temperature is best but baking spread will work
- Sugar – caster sugar provides that golden texture and sweetness throughout the sponge
- Flour – self raising flour lifts your sponge and creates beautiful crumb that will absorb the liquid later
- Eggs – as usual I use medium eggs
- Prosecco flavouring – this is completely optional and can be swapped for vanilla but it will just enhance that flavour one step further
Customising your sparkle
I know I will get jokes about how the prosecco will never make it to the cupcakes, but when you’ve just had a New Years party and are now sick of the sight of it, you won’t have an issue putting it in some cupcakes. Honestly, I overbought, and had some left as expected… but wow.
What Prosecco you use doesn’t really matter – it’s not the sort of bake where you will really get a strong flavour of the type of prosecco, more just a general flavour – so don’t worry about using the most expensive on this.
You can swap it to a rose prosecco for example, but again, the flavour might not be so prominent to be able to tell which one it is. Also, you can easily swap for Champagne or any sparkling wine! Either way, it’s damn delicious!
Block butter for the buttercream
Adding a liquid drizzle straight into frosting is a fantastic way to impart flavour, but it requires a very stable base. Traditional unsalted block butter contains the perfect balance of fats to lock in that extra liquid. If you try to swap it out for baking spread or a dairy-free alternative, the mixture will quickly break down, leaving you with a sloppy, un-pipeable frosting.
FAQs
Can I make these cupcakes completely alcohol-free?
Yes! If you are baking for kids or non-drinkers, you can replace the prosecco in the drizzle and frosting with a high-quality non-alcoholic sparkling white wine, or use a splash of milk and a dash of vanilla extract in the buttercream instead.
Where can I find prosecco food flavouring?
Prosecco or champagne flavouring can be found easily online or in specialty baking shops. It gives the sponge a wonderful extra boost of flavour, but if you don’t have any on hand, simply substitute it with a half-teaspoon of classic vanilla extract.
Why is my buttercream frosting looking a bit soft?
Because we are adding a few tablespoons of liquid syrup to the frosting, it will naturally be a tiny bit softer than a standard buttercream. If it feels too loose to pipe, pop the bowl into the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes to let the butter firm up slightly before loading your piping bag.
How do I make the prosecco-soaked raspberry garnish?
Simply drop a handful of fresh raspberries into a shallow bowl, pour a bit of your leftover prosecco over the top, and let them sit for about 20 minutes while your cupcakes bake. Gently lift them out before popping them onto your frosted cupcakes.
Prosecco Cupcakes!
Boozy prosecco cupcakes with prosecco soaked sponges, prosecco buttercream frosting, and more! The perfect cupcakes for any celebration!
Print
Pin
Rate
Servings: 12 Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 150 g caster sugar
- 150 g self raising flour
- 3 medium eggs
- 2 tsp prosecco flavouring (optional – replace with 1/2tsp vanilla)
Prosecco Drizzle
- 150 ml prosecco
- 150 g caster sugar
Buttercream
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 400 g icing sugar
- 4-5 tbsp prosecco drizzle (above)
Decoration
- Prosecco soaked raspberries
- Sprinkles
- Prosecco truffles
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 180ºc/160ºc Fan and get 12 cupcake cases ready!
- Beat together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in your flour, eggs and flavouring and beat again until smooth!
- Split evenly between the cupcake cases and bake for 17-20 minutes – I usually do 18 minutes!
- Whilst the cupcakes are baking, make your drizzle.
- Add your prosecco and sugar to a small pan, and heat on a low-medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. (Reserve 4-5tbsp for later!)
- Once the cupcakes have baked, remove from the oven. Drizzle the drizzle over and leave to cool fully!
For the Decoration
- Beat your butter on it's own until lovely and supple. Room temperature butter is best – do NOT use any form of spread.
- Once beaten, add in the icing sugar and beat again until lovely!
- Slowly add in the prosecco drizzle, until you reach your desired buttercream! The more you add, the softer your buttercream will be, so I don't generally do more than 5tbsp!
- Pipe the buttercream onto your cupcakes – I used a 2D closed star piping tip!
- Decorate with whatever you fancy – I used some prosecco truffles, prosecco soaked raspberries, and some sprinkles!
Notes
- These cupcakes will last for 3 days once made!
- You can decorate the cupcakes however you fancy, but I use this piping tip because it’s my favourite ever!
Storage and freezing
Because the sweet prosecco drizzle locks in so much incredible moisture, these cupcakes will stay beautifully soft and fresh for up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Keep them out of the fridge to stop the sponges from drying out.
If you want to bake ahead, you can freeze the un-iced, drizzled cupcakes. Wrap them carefully or place them in a sturdy container and freeze for up to 3 months. Simply let them thaw on your counter overnight before whipping up a fresh batch of frosting to decorate.
Related recipes
I’ve made a champagne cheesecake before (which you can obviously use prosecco for instead), and a raspberry & Prosecco trifle – but never a real “bake”! I thought cupcakes would be cute – and I just love how they turned out.
I was just wondering if you have any tips of how to get the butter warmer if baking when the room temperature is quite cold so the butter can’t get slightly warmer than the fridge. Thanks xx
You just need to leave it out longer! x
I sometimes warm the bowl it will go in! I use hot water in the bowl, leave it to stand for a few mins, tip it out then dry it fully and add the butter in to soften
Hi Jane, can you confirm how much of the prosecco flavouring you use as the recipe states tsp’s should it be drops ?. I tried the tsp quantity and it’s not very nice.
It depends on the brand of flavouring you use, and also personal taste – I prefer it strong!! x
Hi Jane,
I’m thinking of making these for Mother’s Day, but am thinking of doing a vanilla cupcake, with prosecco buttercream and freeze dried raspberry pieces on top.
Would prosecco flavouring work instead of the drizzle in the buttercream?
Thank you,
Dana
Yes that would definitely work!! x
I’m partway through making these but they smell great and it’s a nice simple recipe to follow. I’m just wondering how much of the drizzle to use, as the recipe makes a lot. I’ve put a good amount on but I’m wary of putting more.
Yeah so it can make surplus but its also harder to make smaller amounts, so you can put as much or as little as you want x
I have added the drizzle but its just gone through the cases and the cases are soaked?
Oh gosh Jane, heavy sigh when you say at end of recipe, ‘have a wonderful 2020’ (little did we all know!). typing this 27th Dec 2020. I want to make s a Victoria sponge and I see above one batch of cup cakes for one one layer, I already have a mango chunks butter filling cream in freezer , do you think I could stir(hand whisk) the prosecco into it? Thanks.
Yeah I think that could be tasty!! x
Would the butter be able to be substituted for lactose free butter?
Hi! Just made these this evening but I wonder if I did something wrong! I couldn’t taste the Prosecco at all! I wonder if I did the drizzle wrong… i just dissolved the sugar but is it supposed to boil up and go syrupy?
Please can you help? Thank you so much!
Olivia
It depends on the Prosecco, and personal taste – it’s not a very very strong flavour as it can’t be, but it may just not be quite enough for you! x
Thank you so much Jane – will try a different prosecco next time :-))
Can I use prosecco in the sponge instead of prosecco flavouring? Amazing recipe xx
I wouldn’t personally – just the drizzle would do! x
How long will the drizzle keep for
Thank you.
Love your recipes.
I’m not 100% sure – I would say in the fridge it would easily last 4-5 days! x
Does the drizzle give it stronger flavour. I’m making this for friends birthday.
Thank you
Yes it does!
Safe for children to eat?
As they do have alcohol in them I would say it’s up to your own discretion whether you let your children have them.
Can this be adapted for an 8 inch cake and would you just pour the drizzle over both layers before buttercream
A really easy cupcake recipe to follow however the prosecco flavouring in the cupcake itself didn’t make it taste too nice but that’s just my taste buds. I’ll stick to simple vanilla next time 🙂
Hi,
Can I ask, what is prosecco flavouring? What to make sure it get these perfect!
It’s a flavouring, just like vanilla, but it’s Prosecco flavoured!
Hi Jane
Want to turn this yummy recipe into a 50th Birthday Cake for my friend. What changes would you recommend to turn it from cupcake to three layer cake?
Thanks
Karen
I usually say one batch of cupcakes = 1 layer of an 8″ cake! Bake for about 35 minutes or so, but otherwise everything else is the same!