Vanilla cake. Chocolate cake. Strawberry cake. Blah cake.
I'm quite the cake fanatic and I realized that I was starting to get bored with the usual flavors of cake. I was browsing on Pinterest when I got the idea to bake a cake that I had never tried before. A champagne cake is a nice flavor to use for a more sophisticated party and a cake for adults to celebrate with. So here it is: How I made my Pink Champagne Cake plus a decorating tip that will make everyone think you've been decorating cakes your whole life and that you slaved away at this for hours!
Step 1) I used this recipe to make this cake. The Andre champagne I used was the absolute cheapest one I found (#privatecollegekidproblems) and it was $4.47 at Walmart!
Step 2) Mix up all the ingredients. I tasted the batter after I mixed it up and I didn't feel like there was enough champagne in it so I added an extra 1/4 of a cup in and mixed it in.
Step 3) Pour the batter into round cake pans. Mine were 8x8.
Step 4) After taking them out of the oven, let them cool and then level them off for a nice even cake.
Step 5) While the cake was cooling, I mixed up the icing. I added a little extra champagne for more flavor. I realized that right after I mixed it in, it was REALLY strong, but after it had been sitting around for an hour or so, the champagne taste was not as strong and tasted really good. Also, this is a VERY sweet icing, so I didn't use too much of between the layers and on the cake.
Step 6) DECORATING TIP: Use a napkin to decorate your cake! There are usually two sides to a napkin: There's the smooth side and the patterned side. First, I used the smooth side to even out the final layer of icing on top of my crumb coat. Then I used a new napkin, patterned side down, and smoothed it out while pressing down ever so lightly. This seriously took me less than TEN SECONDS and then I was done! Looks pretty professional, right?
Step 7) While the cake was chilling in the fridge, I had to clean up the HUGE mess I made making the icing! Note: make sure the butter is completely softened before mixing.... Or else you'll get a huge mess too.
Step 8) Take pretty pictures of your fancy cake and share it with loved ones! Perhaps a nice glass of champagne would be nice to drink with this cake. :)
If you make this or have any quick decorating tips, let me know in a comment! Hope y'all like this and use this technique! I'd love to see pictures if you do!
