Mimosa Cupcakes
Topped with a festive champagne buttercream,
these Mimosa Cupcakes are an excellent way to ring in the new year!
To steal one of my wife’s favorite sayings, “I’ll have a mimosa, hold the orange juice.” Since mimosas are comprised of only orange juice and champagne…yeah, you get the point.
Do you guys ever bust out a bottle of champagne to celebrate something fun? Maybe it was a promotion at work…or maybe you won the lottery…or maybe it’s a day ending in “y”. No matter the reason, it’s always fun to pop the cork on a bottle of the bubbly and celebrate in style!
New Year’s Eve is a solid excuse to open a bottle of the “champs.” For us, New Year’s Eve means a homemade pizza and a bottle of champagne. Yes, pizza usually goes better with beer…but on New Year’s Eve, champagne is the way to go!
We keep it pretty low-key around here on the NYE. We make pizza and open a bottle of champagne. We make a batch of tater-tots as an appetizer…because why not? It’s New Year’s Eve, and that’s a good enough reason to eat some tots, right?
Am I the only one who finds New Year’s Eve a bit depressing? I mean I enjoy celebrating just as much as the next guy. I enjoy blowing those silly paper horns and wearing sunglasses that spell out 2016. But New Year’s Eve also signals the end of the holiday season. It means back to reality. No more indulging in tasty desserts. No more sitting up late visiting with family and friends. But New Year’s falls on a Friday this year, and that means our holiday vacation gets extended by an extra weekend. So I vote that we celebrate and make the most of these extra days. (Plus, there’s some really good college football games on NYE this year. Pizza, champagne and college football is the lineup of champions!)
What better way to celebrate than with some Mimosa Cupcakes? These cupcakes include a bit of orange juice, and then they’re topped with champagne buttercream. My wife sampled the champagne buttercream while I was frosting these cupcakes…and I had to literally wrestle it away from her. Ok, maybe not literally. But I did have to tell her kindly to step away from the frosting. She complied, but only after I promised that she could have a cupcake for dessert.
Oh, and if champagne isn’t your thing (or you want to serve these Mimosa Cupcakes to the kiddos), then just make the frosting with ginger ale instead of champagne. They’ll still taste delicious. #PinkySwear
How do you celebrate New Year’s Eve?
What would you do for a Mimosa Cupcake right now?
Mimosa Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp orange zest
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp orange juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Champagne Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp champagne or ginger ale
- 2 Tbsp orange juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- edible gold stars optional garnish
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners; set pan aside. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until well combined; set aside.
- Using a countertop mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy (~3 minutes on medium high speed).
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add about ½ of the flour mixture to the bowl; mix on low speed until well combined.
- Add the buttermilk, orange juice and vanilla to the bowl. Mix on low until well combined.
- Add the remaining flour mixture; mix on low until well combined. (Tip: Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are fully mixed.)
- Fill greased or lined muffin tins approximately 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.
For the Champagne Frosting
- Using a countertop mixer, cream the butter on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.
- Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add champage, orange juice and vanilla; mix until well combined.
- Increase speed to medium-high; mix for 3-4 more minutes.
- Frost cupcakes as desired (I used a large round tip for these).
- {Optional} Garnish with edible gold stars before serving.
Loving the Gold Stars — really adds a neat touch!
Thanks so much! New Year’s Eve is a good excuse to bring out the gold stars, right? 🙂
Haha – I don’t usually pop a cork on a bottle of bubbly to celebrate “a day ending in “y” ” but I’d gladly eat a cupcake to celebrate it! Haha – too funny David!
These cupcakes sound pretty fantastic with the double dose of orange – and I see why you had to strike a deal with Mrs for her to put that frostng down!
Lil Shashi and I usually make a plethora of desserts and stay up and watch the ball drop on TV on NYE – these cupcakes might be a nice addition to our tradition – thanks so much for sharing them!
Haha…hey, we don’t pop the bubbly too often around here, either…but New Year’s Eve is most definitely an occasion for a bottle of champs. It sounds like your NYE tradition is pretty similar to ours, but you need to work a homemade pizza into the mix! 🙂 Happy New Year’s Eve, Shashi and lil Shashi!
I’ll use any excuse to pop the cork on champagne for mimosas with or without the OJ. I’ll take tater tots on any day that ends in Y too! We usually keep it low-key around here on NYE too. Pizza, champagne, and these cupcakes is all I need!
Pizza, champagne and tater tots…now if that isn’t hte way to ring in the New Year then I don’t know what is Haha! 🙂 Happy (early) New Year’s Eve, Rachelle!
David, what a great idea!!!! and I love the Champagne Frosting!!!!! Happy New Years!!!!! (a few days early! 🙂
Thanks so much, Alice! Happy early New Years to you as well. Cheers! 🙂
These cupcakes sound wonderful. I am always up for opening a bottle of bubbly! And the stars atop the cupcakes are a particularly appropriate touch considering Dom Perignon’a famous, albeit most likely apocryphal utterance made upon first tasting his champagne “Come quickly, I am drinking the stars.” Best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful 2016!
Haha…I don’t think I’ve ever heard about Dom Perignon’s quote there, Adri. Thank you for sharing! Anytime I can find a way to make cupcakes and open a bottle of bubbly at the same time, then I am 100% on board! I appreciate you stopping by to leave a comment. Happy (early) New Year’s Eve! 🙂
Hi David! These look delicious! We do a variety of appetizers for NYE-graze through the evening! Up your tots by wrapping each tot and a small slice of Jalapeno in half a slice of bacon and bake or deep fry! 🙂
Thank you so much, Dorothy! New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to snuggle in with appetizers and champagne, right? But these tots. Jalapeno bacon tots? Sign me up for a batch…no 2 batches…of these!
Those gold stars are almost as exciting as the mimosas!
I agree NYE is kind of sad, especially since so many people feel it needs to be “THE GREATEST”. I LOVE the pizza/champagne tradition, what a great idea. I think that will totally be adaptable into our lives 😉
Hahaha! Thanks so much, Lauren! I stopped by the store to find some sort of garnish for these cupcakes, and I could decide on gold stars or the gold edible spray. In the end, I’m glad I went with stars instead of a totally gold icing. I absolutely love our pizza/tots/champagne tradition for NYE. It takes away all the pressure of having an amazing time. And I’m in my warm bed by 12:15 which is always a plus! Haha!
the cupcakes look fantastic David! and as far as NYE is concerned..we don’t do anything special..just at home, watch a movie and eat a pizza! the new year’s eve makes me little sad too for exactly the same reasons!
I’m with ya, Manali. It might seem a little sad (or anticlimactic) staying at home on NYE, but I wouldn’t have it any other way now. It’s become our little tradition! Happy (early) New Year’s Eve to you! 🙂
Oh man, these look amazing! You already had me at “mimosa cupcake” but with those cute little star sprinkles and orange wedges?! Game over. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Eve either, but a batch of these cupcakes and some tater tots might be able to change my mind…
Hey, tater tots and cupcakes are pretty much the key to creating the best night ever. Haha…just kidding. (Well, sort of.) Here’s to a Happy New Year’s Eve (with cupcakes) and an awesome 2016!
It’s true NYE is also about the reality of no more fun, indulgent holiday feasting for a while. Since I don’t drink and love ginger ale this sound like a good idea. You guys also have a great little bundle to !
celebrate!
BTW, Tots rock! I usually dust them with Bob’s Big Boy Seasoning Salt. #GuiltyPleasure #WolfPackCorkPoppers
I think you nailed it, Kevin. NYE is about the end of indulgent eating. Frankly, I’m usually ok with that by the time NYE arrives, but it’s still a little sad knowing that the crazy holiday desserts and late nights with family and friends are over. But there’s also something nice about the fresh start of the new year. Happy (early) New Year’s Eve my friend!
What festive cupcakes! These look like they’d be perfect for new year’s, especially with the star sprinkles 🙂 Love your wife’s saying too, LOL 😛
Haha…thanks, June! Nothing like a mimosa hold the OJ to get the morning started off right. I felt a little silly wandering around the store looking for gold cupcake decorations, but these little stars worked out well. I hope you have an awesome New Year’s Eve! 🙂
These cupcakes look and sound fantastic, David! Loving the champagne frosting – yum! Those star sprinkles are the perfect finishing touch! Happy New Year! 🙂
Thanks so much, Jess! With these cupcakes, you can drink a glass of champagne and eat it, too. Haha! 🙂 I hope you have a great NYE over there!
David this is genius!! Cupcakes + Mimosa in one = perfect New Year’s Party !! Happy holidays 🙂
Thanks so much, Ami! I’m all about the champagne on New Year’s Eve, and these cupcakes are a fun way to celebrate. And that frosting…I could almost eat it with a spoon. (Almost.) Happy New Year’s Eve to you, too!
I do love champagne, but only drink it on New Year’s. If I won the lottery…I’d take a bath in champagne! Still waiting for that to happen. These cupcakes are a beautiful idea…especially since no one else in my house will drink the champagne with me and I’d get in trouble if I drank the whole bottle! …..I might need to make a bunch of frosting to use up the extra champagne…:)
We’re kinda the same way, Kathy. We always break out a bottle of champs on New Year’s, and then maybe 1-2 other times throughout the year if there is something good to celebrate. I think a bunch of frosting is a great way to use that leftover champagne…if there is any this year! Haha! 🙂
When midnight strikes on New Year’s, my favorite way to celebrate is in bed. By sleeping. “Let’s get together and drink all night” is a holiday that could happen any given Saturday. A good night’s sleep is something worth celebrating. But I do see your frosting playing a part this year, though. About an hour after dawn on New Year’s morning, I’m thinking my butler could come into the room, open the heavy drapes, set down a silver tray next to the bed and say, “Good morning my lord. Your champagne buttercream. Gold stars this morning, my lord?”
I am hearing what you’re preaching, Jeff! A good night’s sleep is like gold. You know what else is like gold? Having a butler who brings you gold stars on a silver tray. That would be pretty epic…but only if the butler was dressed in a proper butler’s suit. Otherwise, that would make him just some creepy guy in your bedroom.
I love the idea of champagne frosting! What a unique creative idea – perfect for the New Year! These cupcakes look amazing!
Thanks so much, Melanie! That champagne frosting is pretty darned addicting…good thing New Year’s Eve only comes around once a year. Haha! Happy (early) New Year’s Eve!
When I was a kid, the word “Mimosa” assosiated with a salad (Basically, it was called this way. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad at all). 20 years later or so I discovered cocktails with sparkling wines (And sparkling wine perhaps is my favorite alcohol). From now the word will be associated with these delicious cupcakes along with sparkling wine. Great job, David! P.S. Do you need someone to clean the bowl in which you made the frosting?:)
A mimosa salad, eh? I mean I have heard of a champagne vinaigrette dressing…so maybe you’re onto something there, Ben! Unfortunately, my wife already took care of the bowl cleaning duties on this one. But next time I make a batch, I know who to call! Haha! Happy early New Year’s!
I’m all about the low-key New Year’s. We do pizza a lot too, or fondue, or both. I can’t stay up until midnight anymore, though. The kids make us tired!
But I hear ya about not loving the end of the holiday season. We have an extra weekend to recover, and then, yep. Winter’s here! I’m more about July 4th. 😉
These look beautiful! And with a mimosa (hold the OJ), perfect!
Oooo…fondue! I like the way you think, Mir! Can we combine our tots tradition with your fondue tradition and have fondue-covered tots? Haha! Thank you so much for the kind words, and I hope you and the family have an awesome New Year’s Eve today! 🙂
This is so creative, mate! Although let’s be real here- YOU requested the champagne- Don’t blame poor Laura! 😉
I think I’m a grandpa. I wanted to nap at 8pm…
Thanks, Arman! And you caught me….I wanted the champagne, and I blamed it on poor Laura. Curses on you for calling me out! Oh, and it’s ok to take a nap at 8pm as long as you are awake by 12am! 🙂
I think we celebrate New Year’s Eve in pretty much the same way. Very low key. 🙂 Anything with citrus in dessert is always a winner to me! These look so festive!! Happy New Year!
Low key is definitely the best way to celebrate, Tamara! I’ve done the whole go out and get crazy thing, but that’s just overrated I think! Thanks so much, and I hope your new year is off to a great start so far!