Today we are excited to share a uniquely light and flavorful recipe with you for Pink Champagne Cake.
This elegant dessert, with it’s moist champagne infused layers & delicious buttercream is perfect for weddings, engagement parties, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, or any occasion that calls for something special.
Southern bakers have been flavoring their cakes with sweet beverages for decades (cocoa cola cake, 7 up cake, etc.)…but Pink Champagne cake takes that practice to a whole new level of delicious sophistication.
It is believed that Pink Champagne Cake first originated on the west coast in the ’50s and ’60s, and was a hugely popular to choice for bridal showers, weddings, and bachelorette parties.
There’s just something a bit glamorous about a dessert flavored with Pink Champagne, don’t you think? The Los Angeles Times printed a Pink Champagne Cake decades ago and to this day it remains one of it’s most requested.
If you like Pink Champagne, you are going to fall in love with this recipe. While the pink champagne isn’t overpowering, the flavor is unmistakable.
We love to fill it with our Pink Champagne Buttercream Frosting, but traditionally pink champagne cakes have often been paired with bavarian cream or coconut fillings.
We hope that you enjoy this fantastic recipe. Make sure to check out our Pink Champagne Buttercream link below, as well as a doctored cake mix option! Enjoy!
Pink Champagne Cake
Ingredients
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour 3 (8 inch) pans
- 3 cups (342 g) cake flour
- 1 Tablespoon (15 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2g) salt
- 6 egg whites (194g)
- 1 cup (242g) pink champagne, I used Andre Blush Champagne
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (18 g)
- 2 cups (400 g) sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) (226 g) unsalted butter
- Small amount of pink food color, I used AmeriColor Deep Pink but any pink would be fine. I added the color with a toothpick, just a small amount will give you blush pink
Directions
- In a medium size bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside
- In another bowl combine the egg whites, champagne, vanilla and vegetable oil. Whisk until blended and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar 3 to 5 minutes. When it is light and fluffy add approximately 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Then add 1/2 of the liquid ingredients mixing until blended. Continue alternating dry and wet ingredients. Begin and end with dry ingredients (3 additions of dry and 2 wet). Add the pink color at any time during the mixing of the dry and wet ingredients. *Makes 7 1/2 cups of batter.
- Pour into prepared pans and bake 25 to 30 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted the center comes out clean. Cool in baking pans 10 min. then turn out.
Every Pink Champagne Cake needs a delicious Pink Champagne Buttercream Frosting to go with it! We have just the one: Pink Champagne Buttercream Recipe
Also, If you are looking for an easy doctored cake mix version of Pink Champagne Cake, we love this recipe!: Pink Champagne Cake (doctored cake mix) Recipe.
Hi. Thanks for recepi. Made this gor first time, but it’s came not as expected. It’s too moist and heavy. What can be a reason? I did use cream cheese on heavy cream.
Hi Irina, Your cake is perfectly beautiful!! I am sorry there was a problem. In the picture I see dark red above the bottom layer and a thinner red streaks above that. Is that a raspberry filling? If it is I think that the filling or the cream cheese frosting, if it was very wet must have seeped into the cake layer making it too moist and heavy. That is what I think happened because if the layers came out of the oven and were nice and light something that came into contact with them must have caused the change. Let me know what you think.
Thank you for the answer. Yes, the red layer is raspberry jelly. I think the reason was cream and jelly. Butter cream is better for this sort of cake,but we don’t really like buttercream,that’s why decided to change it on other one. Next time will do with buttercream. Anyway, it was delicious…
Hi Irina, I think possibly the raspberry puree was not thick enough and seeped into the layer. Bakers use raspberry filling often without a problem so if you cook it a bit longer to reduce the liquid and thicken it, the problem could be solved. I’m sure next time will be better. I’m happy you liked the flavor.
Success with this lovely recipe everyone loved it❤
Also made cupcakes delish but I only wish they had more crown, otherwise perfection.
Hi Rachel, Thank you for the pictures, your cake and cupcakes look fantastic!! I find that often cupcakes baked from a scratch recipe are more level or have only a slight dome. To get more of a dome on your cupcakes, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. As soon as you put the cupcakes into the oven, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees.
I made a 6″ double layer cake using half a recipe to test this after a couple failed recipes for strawberries and champagne cake. This recipe was great! Just sweet enough to pair well with the cream cheese buttercream strawberry champagne frosting i made. I was originally looking for a strawberry champagne cake. Is there a way to incorporate some strawberry puree into this recipe? Either way, thank you for this lovely cake recipe. I will definitely be making this one again! Please ignore the decorating skills or lack there of. I’m still figuring that part out! My warm hands keep melting the frosting through the piping bag :(
Cheers!
I used your recipe to make cupcakes last night. Such a light and fluffy cake! Mine were not at all dry and I baked them for almost 20 minutes at 325 in the convection oven. I did substitute raspberry flavored sparkling ICE water. This added plenty of coloring so I didn’t add any more. I do think i would cut the sugar back as I believe the flavored water added too much sweetness. My cakes didn’t dome, which doesn’t bother me, but I did find that the batter rose nicely and I nearly overfilled a few cups! This was my test run for a bridal shower and I will be making this batter again! Thanks so much!
Hi Kelly, Thank you for posting your thoughts on the recipe. One solution to “hot hands” when piping is to prepare two piping bags and when one bag becomes too warm, place it in the refrigerator for a few minutes and piped with the second bag. You can keep alternating bags this way until the piping is complete…..so happy you like the recipe.
Hi Jen, Thank you for trying the recipe and posting your thoughts. It is good to know about substitutions that can be used. I am trilled that you will be using the recipe for the bridal shower!!.
If I multiplied the recipe by 1.5 would it be enough for a 3 layer 9-inch cake, and the layers not be thin? Or would I need to double it?
Thanks, JoAnna
Hi JoAnna, This recipe makes 7 1/2 cups batter, multiplying it by half will give you 11 cups batter. This is a link to the Wilton chart, link to wilton.com. For a 9 inch pan Wilton uses 5 cups cake batter. I don’t usually use quite that much. Going by the Wilton chart you will need to double the recipe and you will have some leftover. How many cups of batter do you usually put in your 9″ pans. That will help you make your decision.
Hi. This looks lovely and I’m looking forward to baking it tomorrow! Just wondering what your thoughts are on using whole eggs instead of egg whites. I prefer the yolk in cakes and cookies for the richness in flavor and binding the moisture in. Can you let me know how this would alter the consistency of the cake if I were to use the whole egg? Thank you!
Hi Susan, Using egg whites in this recipe give it a light and fluffy consistency and this fits with the idea of a champagne cake. It would be a bit more dense using whole eggs. I hope you like the recipe.
Hi!
I’d like to incorporate some fresh strawberries or a strawberry puree into this cake. I have looked and looked and cannot find a recipe! Someone else asked earlier.
Hello I am making this cake for an engagement party! I need to make it a little bigger to accommodate the crowd! I am planning on using three 10 inch pans. I baked a single from scratch recipe for the cake this evening to try it out using 9 inch pans and they came out a bit thinner and a crispier edge than I was expecting. Do you think doubling the recipe is enough or should I triple it to make the cakes thicker and accommodate for the bigger pans?
hi! I am
Going to make this for a child’s cake. Could I substitute champagne for pink soda? Thanks Sandra
Hi Sandra, I am not sure if the pink soda would add too much sugar. Some have used a sparkling white grape juice instead of champagne for a non-alcoholic version. The taste would not be quite the same but it would work. A small amount to pink coloring will give you the look you want.
ik bak deze taart eerste keer. Ik was heel geinteresserd door dit recept. ik kan niet zeggen dat het me lukt op 100%. da taar was stevig niet zo zacht als ik op de foto kan zien.
maar heel erg lekker
Hey! I made this cake and found it was really dense. I followed the recipe, do you think maybe I folded the egg whites in wrong?
Also this may be a silly question but does the champagne need to be sparkling or will that effect the cake as well?
I have just made this but am not sure I have done it right. Do the eggs whites need to be whisked to stiff peaks before combining with champagne or do you whisk altogether.
You don’t mention folding in at all. Should flour and wet ingredients be folded?
Hi Sarah, I an glad you posted. When I answered the question above I must have been thinking about another cake with folded in egg whites. I hope you followed the recipe as written in the instructions. Egg whites are not whisked to stiff peaks and folded in. They are whisked with the champagne as written. I’m sorry for the confusion. I will be deleting the other post.
Do I need to use clear vanilla to get a true pink colour in the sponge ?
Hi Lee, Yes, if you have clear vanilla on hand that is a good idea.
I think this is beautiful! I’d like to make it as a wedding cake. I’m just wondering how long it will stay fresh? Does it need to be eaten the same day or can it be frosted and decorated beforehand?
I made this cake following the directly exactly, and it failed…twice. It didn’t rise, didn’t seem to be enough batter for three layers, and isn’t light and fluffy but kind of dense and chewy. Are there any tips or techniques left out of the directions? I’ve made some complicated cake recipes and never had a cake not turn out. I was really disappointed.
Hi Jennifer, I am sorry you had a problem. I am not sure why you would not have enough batter. I think this is the first comment about not enough batter so I am a bit stumped. Did you weigh the ingredients? If so, did you zero out the weight of the bowl before weighing? Were you using 8 x 2 inch cake pans? When a cake doesn’t rise I always suggest checking to see if the baking powder of out of date. Look forward to hearing from you.
Delish! Made this cake for a tasting…. the Bride fell in love with it! My family… even the picky eaters are head over heels for this cake. I added my fresh strawberry filling to it! Yummo❤️
Hi Ann-Marie, I am delighted that the Bride and your family enjoyed the cake!!!! A strawberry filling sounds divine with this recipe!! Thank you so much for posting your review!!
hi
does it matter if the champagne has gone flat?
I’m sorry, Nancy, but I don’t know how the result would be.
strawberry filling sounds great, what recipe do we use for filling?
Hi Anne, For a strawberry filling:
2 to 2 1/2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
Thinly slice the strawberries, add to a saucepan with the sugar and cornstarch. Slowly heat the strawberries and sugar, pressing the strawberries against the side of the pan to crush. Gradually increase the heat, stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from the heat. The mixture will continue to thicken a bit more as it cools. Cool completely before using as a filling. Don’t spread all the way to the edge of the cake layers, stop about 1 inch from the edge. As a cake layer covers it, it will spread closer to the edge.
Best champagne cake recipe ive found! I halved this recipe and made 12 cupcake instead of a full cake and made a vanilla bean champagne butter cream frosting and they were the bomb! You can taste the champagne in the cake and theyre light and fluffy. Most recipes ive tried come out heavy and dense or you cant taste champagne at all. This was perfect thank you so much!
Hi Victoria, Thank you so much for your nice review of the recipe, so happy you gave it a try.
I just make the cake. It was soft, moist and so good. Will be making it again and again.
Hi Brenda! I’m so happy that you loved the recipe! Thanks so much for your feedback. xoxo
Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe it seemed really easy to do, although all 3 of my cakes sank in the middle 🙁 before I’d even opened the oven, any advice would be welcome, as I have to now re do it again, as it’s my my Nieces communion after party. I used caster sugar instead of granulated, (I’m in the UK) but I did increase the sugar amount accordingly, thank you X
Hi Jackie, I’m sorry your cakes sank. I think the problem was with the extra sugar added. Sugar is considered to be as a liquid in a recipe. Use the measurement listed in the recipe for your caster sugar. Granulated sugar in the UK is a much larger grain than our granulated sugar in the US. Our granulated sugar is actually closer to your caster sugar than. For this reason you can use the same measurement as we do. All will go well the next time you try the recipe.
Thanks for replying so quickly! Ok cool, I’ll give it another go with the same sugar amount. I did think maybe it was for that reason, as the top went very crusty as well. I only bought a small bottle of fizz, so I’m off to get another bottle 🍾😊 x
I was excited to try this, I followed directions carefully and read a few times before I started to make sure I had all the right items. well, the flavor was very nice, the cake after done with 2 layers was about one inch high, and was more the texture of shorbread, the frosting turned out great. because there was so little cake I had a lot of frosting left over so I had a box of cake mix and substituted the champagne for the water and it turned out nicely ( I did use ‘cake flour’ which I thought from what I know of it that it makes a lighter cake, ) in this case it did not
Hi, I was just wondering if I should weigh everything rather than measuring. If I weighed three cups of cake flour it was much more than what this recipe said. Should I just ignore what I got and rather work with the weight of everything on this recipe? Please help 😊🌸
Hi Julia, The most accurate measurement is to weigh your ingredients. Did you remember to zero out the weight of the bowl before adding the flour? To measure flour it should be lightly spooned into a measuring cup and leveled off with the back of a knife, it is 114 grams per cup (342g for 3 cups). If you were to dip a measuring cup into flour and sweep it out it would weight around 130 grams because you are packing it into the cup. Yes, work with the weight of everything in the recipe.
If this is the case and it relates to what happened in my case, then the recipe should indicate exactly to weigh the cup before adding flour and weigh the flour and what the weight should be per cup. I did not ‘pack’ the flour ( I have worked in restaurants most of my life an know proper ways to do things , but I have never made a cake like this before), thank you for sending me a mail that was in answer to Julia’s question, I guess you believed that the weight of flour was the problem and your answer to her should be the answer to my question/comment also
Hi Carol, I am sorry your cake did not rise to the correct height. This could be caused by a number of things. It could have been that your baking powder was out of date or an incorrect amount was used, an incorrect amount of liquid or mixing the batter for too long or at too high a speed. It is best to not beat above medium speed. Also, if 8 inch pans were not used the cake will not be as tall. For you comment on weighing the cup before adding the flour, that is not necessary. When using a digital scale there is a Tare (Zero) button on the scale. So when weighing flour, sugar, etc., you will place a bowl on the scale, then press the Tare button. This sets the scale to zero so the scale only shows the weight of the ingredient in the bowl, the weight of the bowl is removed. Let me know if you have other questions.
great recipie, thanks
I made this cake for a ladies card game and asked them to be honest as to whether they liked it or not. I do not like Champagne so I didn’t think I would be a good judge. They all raved about the cake! I made it once before on a different recipe and it was a flop. Went right in to the trash can. This cake was moist, tasty and was a hit. All 7 of us said this recipe is definitely a keeper and will be my go to for a Champagne Cake!!! I even liked it and as I said, I don’t care of Champagne! Thank you so much!!!
Hi Dawna, I’m so happy to hear that you all loved the recipe! Your picture is too cute, thanks so much for your feedback! xoxo
I’m going to make a cake for my daughters wedding. Will make a 10”, 8” and 6”. Is this cake too dense in either the scratch or store bought cake for stacking? Also want to incorporate strawberries into the frosting as well. I live in Colorado, what adjustments do I need to make for high altitudes? Thank you Judy
Hi Judy, The scratch version of the Pink Champagne cake is a bit softer than the doctored (cake mix) version, so the doctored might be better for stacking. I think the scratch recipe would be ok, we just have not tried it. We have a Strawberry Buttercream recipe in the recipe section that you might like to check out. It has pureed strawberries as an ingredient so you would need to refrigerate the completed cake. Keep in mind that if you slice fresh strawberries to use in between the layers, the strawberries will release a lot of juice which could soften the cake or leak through the frosting causing problems for you. We do not have first hand experience with high altitude baking as we live near sea level. Here is a link to a Craftsy post that I think you will find helpful
link to craftsy.com