Pink Champagne Cake (American South)

This elegant dessert, with its moist champagne infused layers and 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 flavouring 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 choice for bridal showers, weddings, and bachelorette parties. There's just something a bit glamorous about a dessert flavoured with Pink Champagne.

Pink Champagne Cake:
3 cups cake flour (342 g)
1 Tbsp. baking powder (15 g)
½ tsp. sea salt (2 g)
6 egg whites (194 g)
1 cup pink champagne, such as Andre Blush Champagne (242 g)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (8 g)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (18 g)
2 cups sugar (400 g)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (226 g)
pink food colour, such as AmeriColour Deep Pink but any pink would be fine. I added the colour with a toothpick, just a small amount will give you blush pink

Pink Champagne Buttercream:
4 sticks unsalted butter, softened (452 g)
12 cups confectioners' sugar (1380 g)
4 tsp. pure vanilla extract (16 g)
1 tsp. sea salt (6 g)
½ cup pink champagne (122 g)
pink colouring gel of choice (we used a touch of Americolour Deep Pink)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C/155°C fan, Gas Mark 3). Grease and flour 3 (8") pans.

For the Pink Champagne Cake:
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 3-5 minutes. When it is light and fluffy add approximately 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Then add ½ 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 colour at any time during the mixing of the dry and wet ingredients. Makes 7½ cups of batter.

Pour into prepared pans and bake 25-30 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted the center comes out clean. Cool in baking pans 10 minutes then turn out.

For the Pink Champagne Buttercream:
Cream the softened butter until smooth and lightened in colour. Blend in the salt and vanilla.

Gradually add the powdered sugar with the champagne until the powdered sugar is incorporated. Beat at medium speed 3-4 minutes. The texture will become very smooth. If you are tinting the entire batch of buttercream light pink, you can add a very small amount of colouring gel while it is mixing. Makes about 8 cups of frosting.

Cook's Notes: For a softer buttercream with a much lighter crust, cut the amount of powdered sugar from 12 to 9 or 10 cups and cut the amount of champagne from ½ cup to ¼ cup + 1 Tbsp. Also, cut the salt to ½ tsp. This lighter consistency works well for cupcakes or cakes that don't require the Viva method of smoothing.