Iron Cupcake Challenge Wine-Pineapple Champagne Punch

I finally decided to get my act in gear and submit an entry for the Iron Cupcake contest. I'm already baking cupcakes anyway and besides, who wouldn't want to win some awesome prizes?

(The fine print).

Our January ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
DOGBONE ART - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=22042
as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!As an added bonus for January, our friend at SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in another treat as well, http://www.acupcakery.com/index.html.Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com/, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com/; the CUPCAKE COURIER http://www.cupcakecourier.com/; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com/. NEW, BEGINNING IN JANUARY; our new friends at UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/ will be providing our winner with one of their cute cupcake attitue t's! Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com/ .

Now onto the good stuff--the cupcake! This month's challenge was to use wine, so I used some basic Korbel champagne that was in the cupboard. Then, I checked out lots of different champagne recipes and chose "Pineapple Champagne Punch". It is a light punch made with pineapple and lemon juices, sugar and champagne. I think that the dry champagne combines nicely with the sweetness of the pineapple and the tartness of the lemon. Try for yourself!

I chose to make a light lemon cake with pineapple glaze and sweet champagne frosting.

For the cake, an altered vanilla cake recipe from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp

1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white, at room temp

1 1/2 tsp lemon extract or lemon juice

1/2 cup milk (soy milk is also fine)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare pan for 12 cupcakes.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl, use mixer to combine sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the egg and egg white slowly and beat well. Add lemon extract or juice. Beat well and then add 1/3 of the flour mixture, alternating with the milk. Repeat until the flour and milk are all added. Mix until the flour is just combined (don't overbeat your cupcakes).

I always use an ice cream scoop to level out even cupcakes. Fill your 12 cupcake papers and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool cupcakes completely before the next step.

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp pineapple juice

1 tsp pineapple

I used a can of crushed pineapple for the glaze and still had plenty left over.

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and use immediately. This glaze will harden if left exposed to air, which is great once it's on the cupcakes. To easily glaze the cooled cupcakes, I dip them into the glaze and twist a couple of times. Let the glaze cool while you prepare the frosting.

For the frosting:

1 stick butter or shortening, room temp

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp champagne

Using electric mixer, beat butter until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Slowly combine the powdered sugar and mix thoroughly. Add champagne to taste and more powdered sugar, if necessary. I used a piping bag to add a small flourish of frosting to the tops of the glazed cupcakes.

Enjoy! I may or may not have eaten one of these for breakfast today. Let's just call it a taste test.
So, try these out and then head over to http://mkecupcakequeen.blogspot.com/ and vote for my creation. Come on, I could always use more kitchen utensils that have little bodies on them!