Pink champagne cake is a popular dessert often served at weddings, showers, and Valentine’s Day. Despite its name, few recipes call for actual champagne in the batter. The cake is typically filled with rum Bavarian or traditional Bavarian cream and frosted with pink buttercream. It can be difficult to make, so many people opt to buy it from professional cake shops.
A pink champagne cake is a light fluffy cake with a misnomer for a name. Despite the dessert’s longstanding popularity, only a few recipes call for pink or rose champagne to be included in the batter. Instead, the name most likely comes from the tradition of frosting the cake a cheerful pink, and its frequent association with being served at Christmas parties. Some recipes also contain a small amount of sparkling wine, although traditional champagne isn’t a necessary addition.
Pink champagne cake recipes vary, but most consist of a cream-filled white layer cake. The filling is often rum Bavarian or traditional Bavarian cream, which gives the cake a thick, rich flavor. The predominant flavors in the cake are rum and vanilla, although some recipes call for chocolate chips to be added on top as decoration.
The frosting on a pink champagne cake is typically plain buttercream, tinted pink with a few drops of red food coloring. Many bakeries choose to cover the cake iced in pink or chocolate curls, made with hardened or thickened icing, dyed chocolate, or coconut.
Pink champagne cakes have become popular at certain types of celebrations. Since the cake is considered particularly feminine, it is often found at weddings, showers and bachelorette parties. The sweet pink color of the frosting also makes the cake popular as a Valentine’s Day dessert, while its association with champagne makes it appropriate for New Year’s celebrations.
A pink champagne cake isn’t the easiest recipe for the beginning baker. The complexity of the wine-filled batter, Bavarian cream, and glaze can easily overwhelm a relatively new pastry chef. Perhaps for this reason, pink champagne cakes are often a specialty of professional cake and pastry shops. While experimenting with this tricky recipe certainly goes a long way, to ensure a perfectly decorated and flavored cake for an upcoming celebration, many consider it wise to let a professional do the dirty work, so you can sit back and enjoy this delicious cake without wrecking your kitchen.
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