Champagne Cupcakes

Champagne? Delicious. Cupcakes? Delicious. How could you go wrong combining two wonderfully delicious items?

Cake batter:

• 1 stick softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup

Frosting:

• 1 cup plus 1 tbsp. champagne
• 2 sticks of softened butter
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

On to the cupcakes now! Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each egg. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together champagne and sour cream...

Now, alternate adding the flour and champagne mixture to the batter. The batter's gonna be pretty thick. And delicious. Try it.

Fill your cupcakes and bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes until done. While the cupcakes are baking, start on the frosting...

Add 1 cup of champagne in a saucepan and cook over medium high heat until it's reduced to a couple tablespoons. Takes about 15-20 minutes or so. Once it's reduced, pour it in a small bowl to cool.

Cream the softened butter and powdered sugar together. Add the almond. The frosting will be a super thick buttercream. Now add the 2 tbsp of the reduced champagne and 1 tbsp from the bottle and mix well. The frosting turns super light and fluffy...almost whip cream like...

Next important step -- refill your glass of champagne. Let's be honest, the bottle is already open...champagne doesn't keep well...we can't let it go to waste here people.

Frost the cupcakes and serve and enjoy!