Today, I’m sharing a deliciously moist and flavorful Pink Champagne Cake (doctored cake mix) Recipe. Nobody would ever guess how simple this dessert is to make, and the taste is out of this world!
There’s something about Pink Champagne Cake that makes any occasion feel more special. It is perfect for all sorts of celebrations including bridal showers, weddings, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, birthdays, and so on. The champagne flavor is subtle but unmistakable. We hope that you enjoy it!
(If you are also interested in a scratch version of Pink Champagne Cake, make sure to scroll to the bottom of this post!)
Pink Champagne Cake -A Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
Nobody would guess that this moist, flavorful Pink Champagne Cake starts with a simple cake mix!
Ingredients
- 1 box cake mix (sifted), we used Duncan Hines (15.25 oz.) Classic White
- 1 cup (121g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 ½ sticks (12T) (179g) unsalted butter, melted
- 4 egg whites (large eggs)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons (16g) vegetable oil
- 1 ⅔ cup (400g) pink champagne (we used Andre Blush )
- Pink Coloring Gel of choice (We used a small amount of Americolor Deep Pink)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 8 inch cake pans. In the bowl of your mixer add the sifted cake mix, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Whisk at least 30 seconds to combine ingredients. Add the melted butter, egg whites, vegetable oil, vanilla and champagne.
- With the mixer on low speed, increasing to medium speed, mix for 1 minute. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. ADD THE COLORING GEL AT THIS TIME if you want a pink cake. We added the gel color with a toothpick to control the amount.
- Beat on medium speed for 1 more minute ( a bit longer if using a hand mixer). Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and put into prepared cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes, check at 30 minutes.
- Recipe makes about 7 ½ cups of batter.
Nothing goes better with Pink Champagne Cake than Pink Champagne Buttercream! You can find our favorite recipe here: Pink Champagne Buttercream.
If you prefer scratch recipes, we have a great one for Pink Champagne Cake! This has been one of our most popular recipes! Find it here: Pink Champagne Cake Recipe from Scratch!
Hi Paula, Members who have made the pink champagne scratch recipe have told us that they have used sparkling white grape juice, the taste would not be quite the same but it would work. Someone also used raspberry lemonade. I think you could also just make a white cake recipe using champagne extract. You may need to order the extract online.
@Valencia- Yes, you can use this recipe for cupcakes also!
I am from Sri Lanka. I like to join with you Melissa because I am also interested this. You made lovely cakes.
Thank you, Anita! We would be happy to have you as a member. You can either join by visiting our “join” page, or if you would like for us to e-mail an invoice to you, you can send an e-mail to info@mycakeschool.com. Thanks!!
I made this over the weekend and it’s just fabulous!!! When I try a recipe for the first time I always make a cupcake for taste testing? it came out great too!! ???
Have you made a gluten free version of this cake? Would love you’re suggestions!
Thank you,
Christi
I made the doctored recipe and butter cream for mini cupcakes and it was delicious. I did use a different champagne. But the mini cupcakes were flat looking and also every single wrapper pulled away. (The wrappers were fine for a different recipe I used the same day) Do you know what causes that? Also when sifting a cake mix what difference does that actually make? Thanks!!
Would you recommend using the pink champagne doctored recipe or the scratch recipe for cupcakes (not sure how different the texture or taste is from one another)? How long should I bake them for? Thank you!
Hi Prisca, I think you will be fine using either recipe. I can’t remember any distinct difference between the two. Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs attached.
Looks yummy
Its so sweet and delicious, ensuring it comes out fantastically moist. This is a great base recipe to use . I love this cake.It looks so fresh and tasty. Can’t wait to make it at home . Its the best for summer . Hope me and my family will definitely like this.
How many cupcakes would this make? A box makes 24, so with the added ingredients, I was just wondering :) How much of your champagne buttercream would get used (I know it varies and your recipe is designed for frosting a cake with frills and such, but 8 cups is A LOT of frosting LOL I made about half that and still had a decent amount leftover after frosting 24 cupcakes last week) Also… why start with a box if you’re going to add flour and sugar anyway? I’m a from-scratch girl, but I started with a box last week and it made my life so simple that I’m keen on doing it again especially when I need to make a large amount of cupcakes for a bridal shower in a couple of weeks!); when I was researching, a few friends told me that professional bakers do it all the time–I was floored!
Will this recipe hold up to Swiss Merengue Buttercream and fondant?
Hi Heather, I am not positive on the number of additional cupcakes, maybe 8 more. Using a box mix as the base ingredient is convenient and speeds up the process of baking a cake. Also, box mixes are very forgiving and almost always result in a good cake. Adding flour, sugar and flavorings eliminates the box cake mix taste, making it taste more like a from scratch cake. Yes, it is true that many professional baker use a pre-made baking mix.
Hi Lynn, yes, the recipe will hold up to fondant.
I made these (and a half recipe of the buttercream). I think they’re amazing (serving them a little later today). Instead of vanilla, I put raspberry flavor in both recipes :) FYI… I got 30 cupcakes out of this recipe (using the Pampered Chef Large Scoop). And they totally don’t taste box-y! :) (I put a little more frosting than shown in the picture, I was just having a hard time finding one where the wrapper hadn’t pulled away almost completely :( wrapper issue, not cake–that company is my next stop HA)
Hi Heather, I am happy you liked the recipe! Thank you for posting your thoughts and information. As for the wrappers pulling away, we have found that if the cupcakes are stored in an airtight container it can cause the wrappers to loosen. We usually store ours in a bakery box.
Hi there,
Could you use this cake mix for a bundt cake pan? Or a wilton dome shaped doll pan? I wonder if it would be too “doughy” or if it’d be ok? All the champagne recipes I’ve seen have always been layer cakes but I prefer bundt type cakes. What do you think?? Your recipe sounds great!!
Diane
Hi Diane, I have not used this recipe in a bundt cake pan, but I think you could do so. The recipe makes approximately 7 1/2 cups batter. If you are using a dark colored pan, you will want to lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. We have not used it in the Wilton dome Wonder Mold pan so I am not sure of the baking time. The instructions that come with the pan or an online search will help with that.
Thanks so much for the prompt reply! I’ll give it a try for sure!
Today I made this recipe, the from scratch pink champagne and Liz Merick’s pink champagne. Liz’s recipe was my least favorite because of the fake “sparking wine”extract and it was dense. The texture of your scratch cake was the very best. Light and fluffy! The taste of of this cake was the best and the texture is great. To be honest! I want to work on the scratch recipe so I’m going to try to add some salt and a little more champagne and cross my fingers. Both of your recipes are great and very worth a try!
I made this recipe as cupcakes for my sister-in-law’s wedding but started with a strawberry cake mix instead of white. Very good! :)
Hi Karrie, Thanks so much for posting your version of the recipe , that does sound good!
Hi Melissa. I made cupcakes using the doctored cake recipe. They came out flat and Shiney. What did I do wrong?
Hi Melissa just curious if I have a betty Crocker strawberry and cream box mix could I doctered this from other of your recipes e.g. white almond sour cream cake ??
Hi Genelle, We have not used the Strawberry an Cream box mix but it should work well for you, using the additions shown in the White Almond Sour Cream doctored recipe. I am assuming the cream (Strawberry and Cream) refers to the buttercream frosting in the mix.
Hi.
My pink champagne cake did not rise. Let all ingredients sit out for almost two hours and sifted cake mix. Should flour have been sifted? It didn’t say in the instructions. I am always buying new cans of baking powder. Could it be champagne? Everything was according to directions.
Hi Peggy, I am so sorry you had a problem. We do not sift the flour in the recipe. There is rarely a problem when using a cake mix in a recipe so I am not sure what could have been the problem. If the oven temperature was too low or if there was too much liquid in the batter it would not rise properly.
Ok. Why do they rise and then fall after taking out of the oven?
I baked same cake mix two days ago and it rose over pan and never fell after taking out oven.
Thanks
It came out fine. I just wanted it higher for contest. Thanks
Hi Peggy, Your cake is beautiful, looks like a winner for the contest! In your first post, I misunderstood, I thought your cake did not rise at all or very little. If it did rise and fell after taking out of the oven, the most common reason is that it was under baked or the oven temperature was not high enough. I’m glad all turned out well.
My mother wants me to bake the cake in her gas stove, is this possible? Thanks
Hi Donna, You can bake in a gas oven, though you may need to make some adjustments. Some tend to have hot spots so you could ask your mom about that. You may also need to rotate the pans for more even baking. It is best to avoid dark colored pans because they absorb more heat and the bottom of your cake could over. Light colored metal pans are a better choice. If you only have dark pans you could move the oven rack a bit higher and reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees and bake a little longer. Keep an eye on your cakes.
This cake turned out great! We will definitely be keeping this and using it over and over again!
Came out perfectly. Thanks.
Wonderful!! Thanks for the follow-up!
Melissa, want to make the doctored version for a special birthday cake for my daughter. Read both recipes and the previous comments. Please explain why the scratch recipe uses 1 cup champagne while the doctored recipe uses 1 & 2/3 cups.
Could the additional 2/3 cup champagne be the reason some of the cakes did not rise?
Appreciate a response because do not want a disappointed daughter.
Thanks Myrna
Hi Myrna, The recipe is correct as written. Hope you enjoy the cake.
Melissa. I want to make a 1/2 sheet pink champagne cake. Do I double the recipe, do you have any helpful suggestions. I always add pudding to my cake mixes with an extra egg. Will that change the consistency or just follow your recipe cake mix version and all will be moist. I always freeze all my bake goods it does make them moister.
Hi Kathy! This cake makes about 7 1/2 cups and so I would double.
I’m not sure what size you consider a half sheet- I think of half sheets as 12×18 but some bakers define it differently. This chart is helpful for batter amounts needed- you’ll see a section of sheet cake pans sizes.
http://www.fromkarenskitchen.com/tips/party_cake_batter_amounts_baking_times_2inch_pan.php
We haven’t tried adding pudding to this recipe and so I cannot say for sure– cake mixes are usually pretty forgiving and so most likely it would work just fine. Of course, it would be a little denser than the recipe as written. Good luck on your cake!
Thank you very helpful. My 1/2 sheet pan is same as your
Hi just wanted to know can you post a Champagne whipped cream frosting? I don’t care for buttercream.
Please. Thank you.
Hi JoAnn, That does sound good, let me give it some thought about how to give it enough champagne flavor to taste.
My grandma made this cake for my wedding in 2018 and neither my husband or I are huge cake lovers but this was the BEST cake either of us have ever had!! I finally got her to send me the recipe and look forward to making it myself!????
Hi Alayna, We are thrilled to know that this cake was served at your wedding! Thanks so much for letting us know and posting your nice review of the recipe.
Does this have to be done with the Duncan Hines or is any other white cake mix brand okay?
Made this cake for a family dinner, and it was an absolute HIT. Even my brother in law, who turned his nose up initially at the thought of a pink cake, repeatedly raves about the taste and told me I should make this on a monthly basis!
I’m so glad that you liked it, Kelly! Hooray for a monthly champagne cake ;0) xo
I made this cake for an Easter dessert and it turned out great. I used a simple buttercream icing, though I typically like a lighter whipped cream icing with pink champagne cake. I will be coming back to this one. I often used doctored up cake mix recipes now simply because I have reached a point (particularly when cooking large dinners alongside the dessert) that no one notices and life is too short – so go easy on yourself ;-)
Hi Bonita, I’m so happy you enjoyed the cake! I agree with you, if the cake is good no one seems to care if it is made from scratch or a doctored cake mix. Thank you for your nice review.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Is it sturdy enough to stack in tiers? Thank you ????
Yes, it is. Hope you enjoy the recipe.
Hello
Does the champagne have to be flat
Hi Rene, No the champagne does not need to be flat.
I made the champagne cake in a bundt pan for my friends birthday and it was delicious! My friend now wants me to make her a raspberry red wine one, which I have no idea how to go about it! Would I just switch the champagne for the red wine?
Hi Donna, so glad that you enjoyed it! I’m sorry that I can’t say for sure how it would turn out to switch the pink champagne for red wine. It would be an experiment- but I would think it would work, especially with it being a doctored cake mix. Let us know if you try it!