Who needs a cocktail? These mimosa cupcakes are perfect for a bridal shower, birthday party, or brunch with your friends. A fresh and sweet orange cake topped with whipped champagne buttercream, it’s sure to delight. This is such an easy homemade recipe that will look impressive to all of your fiends!
As you know, I definitely don’t shy away from boozy cupcakes. While my Chocolate Bourbon Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream are a lot more potent than these, you will definitely still taste the dry champagne mixed with sweet orange. It tasted a little bubbly!
What type of champagne should I use in these cupcakes?
Honestly, if there’s a kind of champagne you like to drink, then it will likely taste great in these cupcakes. I am not on a Veuve Clicquot salary – more like a Martini and Rossi one. Any dry champagne that isn’t too sweet will work (I didn’t try Andre but that’s probably fine too). And yes – you can use Prosecco! I tried these cupcakes with Mionetto Prosecco and they tasted great.
How to make these easy mimosa cupcakes
These are easy. We are dumping dry ingredients into a bowl, and then wet ingredients into another one. And then combining them. A few things to note:
- What oranges to use: be sure to get 2 juicy navel oranges for this recipe. I used the zest and juice of both oranges, and they should elicit at least a 1/4 cup of juice. If the batter doesn’t taste fruity enough when it’s all said and done, add another half-orange squeeze. If you want to garnish your cupcakes, you will need THREE oranges.
- How much champagne to use: I used one whole cup of it! It won’t be too strong of a flavor, especially with the orange juice and sugar.
- Grease your cupcake pan: I did not use cupcake liners, but you certainly can if you want! I usually take a pastry brush and wipe the pan with olive oil or melted butter so I am certain that they will not stick.
How to make champagne buttercream
I LOVE this buttercream. I’ve written this in other posts: I do not like a pile of super sweet frosting. I think it ruins the cake (it’s just too much). To me, this champagne buttercream is still sweet, but if you love a thick inch or two of frosting, I recommend you double my recipe.
Be sure to whip your butter into the powdered sugar before adding the champagne. I found that the champagne will make the buttercream a little loose, so to combat this, have your butter be slightly colder than room temperature. Once the champagne is added, whip it into a creamy frosting, and then throw it into the fridge for a few minutes. This helps stiffen it up before we spread it onto the cakes.
What to serve with mimosa cupcakes
If you’re throwing a birthday brunch, these are the perfect accompaniment to a breakfast spread with:
- Avocado toast
- Fresh fruit
- Pancake bar
- Yogurt parfaits
- Veggie quiche
- Fresh coffee
Storing your cupcakes
- Keep the cupcakes in an air-tight container and place in the refrigerator. The buttercream will melt quickly if left in a slightly warm room. Before eating, remove the cupcakes from the fridge and let defrost for 10 minutes.
- If preparing the cupcakes in advance: prepare like normal but withhold from garnishing with the fresh orange slices until the day you plan to eat them. This way the oranges won’t dry out or go bad.
Did you try these cupcakes? Leave me a rating below!
Let me know what you thought by scrolling down to the bottom and leaving me a comment! I’d love to see your photos.
If you like these mimosa cupcakes, try my fig and almond swirl muffins, chocolate orange zucchini bread, or browned butter espresso banana bread.
Mimosa Cupcakes
Equipment
- hand mixer or electric mixer
- standard muffin pan
- 2 large mixing bowls
- spatula
- Whisk
Ingredients
Mimosa cupcakes
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 oranges zest and juice
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup champagne or Prosecco
- 2 tbsp canola oil
Champagne Buttercream
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter slightly colder than room temperature
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup champagne
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- orange slices for garnis
Instructions
Make the mimosa cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease the muffin/cupcake pan with some olive oil or butter (or put in cupcake liners).
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest from two oranges.
- In another bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, canola oil, champagne and orange juice until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix together with a spatula until the batter is just a bit lumpy. Do not over mix.
- Spoon the batter evenly into each cupcake cup, making sure that you don't fill past the rim. Put the pan in the oven and bake until they are springy to the touch, about 20 – 25 minutes. A knife should come out clean when inserted into a cupcake. The edges will also be a slight golden brown but the cakes should be pale in the middle. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before frosting.
Make the champagne buttercream
- In a large bowl, beat the unsalted butter on medium speed for 30 seconds, until the butter appears whipped. Add in the powdered sugar and beat again for 1 minute until the frosting has thickened. Add in the champagne and vanilla. Continue to beat together until smooth and fluffy. If it appears too loose or runny, add more powdered sugar. Refrigerate for 5 minutes before frosting the cupcakes to ensure that it will hold its shape.
- Divide the frosting evenly among the cakes and spread it with a knife. Decorate each cake with more orange zest and and small orange slices if desired.
