Mimosa Cupcakes: The Best Sunday Brunch Cupcakes

 

Mimosa cupcake update, 7/10/2010: This post is about mimosa cupcakes that I made in 2008.  They were delicious, but very dense.  Recently, I've been using a lighter orange cupcake for my mimosa cupcakes which has been a huge hit (I still use the frosting from this post and I don't use any syrup at all).  The cupcake recipe that I use is the recipe for my cranberry orange cupcakes but without the nuts.   

Mimosa cupcakes are the perfect cupcake for a Sunday brunch. Unfortunately, while Bride and Groom 2.0 initially talked about a brunch wedding, they switched their plans to a late lunch and I missed / ignored the memo.

However, as another option, according to Wikipedia, mimosas are "often served to early guests at weddings." This was news to me. Perhaps there could be pre- and post-wedding cupcakes?

What is a Mimosa?

I realized last night when presenting my mimosa cupcakes at a St. Louis Bloggers Meetup that not everyone knows what a mimosa is.

A mimosa is a drink composed of three parts champagne or other sparkling wine and two parts thoroughly chilled orange juice, traditionally served in a tall champagne flute.

What is a Mimosa Cupcake?

My mimosa cupcakes are orange cupcakes with champagne syrup drizzled inside, topped with a champagne frosting and a little orange rind.

Mimosa Cupcake Reviews

First things first, the mimosa cupcake batter was one of the best batters ever. It was one of those batters that almost seems a shame to bake because you just want to eat it all!

After baking, the cake was still tasty. Phew! It hits you with a nice splash of orange flavor. One comment everyone had was that it was particularly dense. Some said it was almost like pound cake. I enjoy dense cakes. If you are of the light and fluffy (wimpy) cake camp, these may not be for you.

The frosting on the other hand, was extremely light and had a nice, subtle champagne flavor.

Bride 2.0 thought the light frosting complimented the dense cake nicely. Groom 2.0 was bothered by the difference in lightness. I was focused on flavor and was happy with the whole thing!

The St. Louis Bloggers happily ate all the cupcakes but didn't give much in the way of opinions. Perhaps they didn't realize that all my tasters are required to give full, detailed reviews. Perhaps I didn't tell them. Bloggers, consider yourself told. Feel free to comment on this post.

Tojosan, however, did have a few things to say about the cupcake on utterz (a site where you record audio of your thoughts direct from your cell phone).

Here's another utterz Tojosan did where he had everyone say their name and their blog. It sounds a bit like a bunch of disorganized drunk people. However, it's really a bunch of people who are used to writing who don't know what to do when handed a phone.

Mimosa Cupcake Recipe

I got the mimosa cupcake recipe by making a VERY subtle modification to a recipe for cherry limeade cupcakes on Ooh You Tasty Little Things. The only change I made was to substitute orange concentrate for the limeade concentrate. I'd been wanting to try baking using a frozen concentrate for a while and was happy to find a good recipe.

• 3 cups cake flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp frozen orange concentrate
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
  

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and powder and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter until smooth then add the sugar and cream together. Once the butter and sugar are creamed add in the orange juice concentrate. Mix in one egg at a time. Add in flour mixture 1/3 at a time. When flour is thoroughly mixed, mix in the yogurt. Batter will be slightly lumpy, but should be smooth kind of like pancake batter. Divide the batter evenly into lined cupcake tins and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Champagne Syrup

• 2 cups champagne
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Bring the champagne and powdered sugar to a boil and let them reduce about half way. Don't expect it to get thick. It will still be very liquidy when you are done. Poke holes in the cupcakes and drizzle in the syrup. Let it absorb into the cupcake and add more. Keep adding to taste.

Champagne Frosting

The problem with champagne frosting is that you have to add way too much champagne in order to get a strong champagne flavor. This ends up making your frosting runny. The last time I used champagne, I opted for a champagne glaze. This time I decided to go the artificial [insert gasp here] champagne flavor route.

I bought some champagne flavor from LorAnn Gourmet. When I opened the bottle and took a whiff, I was overwhelmed by the aroma of bubble gum. I was disgusted. My husband had to remind me over and over again that this stuff was extremely concentrated and just a few drops would smell / taste completely different then taking in the whole bottle at once. Good thing he was right. However, smell your champagne and think bubble gum, you'll be surprised at the similarities.

• 1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 oz mascarpone 
• 2 to 3 cups confectioner's sugar (depending upon how thick you prefer frosting)
• 8 drops of champagne flavor (use an eye dropper)

1. Mix butter and mascarpone until creamy.
2. While mixing over low speed, slowly add the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time, being careful not to over whip frosting.
3. Mix in the champagne flavor.

What's the Orange Stuff in the Middle of the Frosting?

The orange stuff is just a little orange zest I used for decoration to add a bit of zing.

Final Notes

In October, I won the Quirkiest Cupcake Award in the Cupcake Hero contest for my avocado lime cupcakes. In November, I co-hosted the cupcake hero contest. I haven't participated in it since then. Little things got in the way, like oh, preparing to bake for a wedding. This month, I am bake (back) in the game. The theme is liquor and this cupcake is my entry.