Champagne Cupcakes

Need I say more?







Haha!  So, I decided to make champagne cupcakes after being told by a couple people how amazing they are.  I used this recipe and really didn't make any changes besides using a pastry bag to fill them instead of the technique she uses.  Next time I think I would use a better quality champagne...I dont like to splurge on ingredients until I've made a recipe at least once.  They are really light and a little tart but I think that is why so many people liked them!  I took them to book club last night (with a slightly nicer bottle of Brut champagne to drink with) and everyone loved them! 

One perk of making these was drinking champagne while baking.... I mean, you can't exactly save it!

I was nervous about making the pastry cream because I've never made it before and get really nervous about undercooked eggs (especially when serving to others).  But it turned out really smooth and I felt like it had been on the stove long enough that nothing bad could have survived. 

Filling the cupcakes was sort of hard because I didn't know how much to put in so I went on the safe side and had a lot left over but.... they were still delicious!

Tomorrow I offered to bring baked goods to the Arcata Marsh Barn Dance so I've been starting some recipes today and will finish them tomorrow.  I'll update you tomorrow on that!