Champagne & Raspberry Cupcakes

As Valentines is drawing near, here is another super stylish cupcake to share with your sweetheart! Alternatively, if you're single...or just plain greedy (like me) then you can enjoy this luscious sweet treat at anytime!!

It was my birthday recently and I was lucky enough to receive a bottle of Champagne, so I thought I would put it to good use with these cupcakes...a few glasses may also have been consumed in the making...for quality control purposes of course!!

The actual cupacake was made as normal with 3 tablespoons of Champagne added. For this recipe I used an ice cream scoop for the first time to put the mixture in the cases...it worked amazingly well, highly recommended! Once cooked and cooled, an apple corer was used to take a core out of the middle of the cake, which was then filled with a mixture of raspberry jam and Champagne before placing the core back in!

Finally, the frosting is buttercream with the addition of...yes you guessed it...Champagne!! I piped it on using a star nozzle and then as a finishing touch I made my own filigree chocolate hearts and added a raspberry to give a stylish and romantic finish! I've been wanting to make the chocolate hearts for a while and will add another post with instructions soon.

The recipe for these cakes came from Stylist magazine and can be found here. Also check out Cakeboule's blog for another baking recipe using Champagne Why not make some for your Valentine...if you can resist the urge to eat them all yourself before they get to the intended recipient!

These cupcakes are also my entry for Tea Time Treats hosted by What Kate Baked and Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Romance, so these cupcakes fit perfectly with the pretty chocolate filigree hearts and with the champagne and raspberry!