New Year’s Champagne Cake
A stunning, party-worthy cake that’s guaranteed to impress: New Year’s Champagne Cake. Surprise your guests with this delicious showstopper!
Servings: 10 people
Ingredients
Cake
- 200 grams all-purpose flour
- 8 grams baking powder
- 225 grams white granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 medium egg
- 120 ml champagne
- 60 ml milk
- 60 ml sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Filling and Decoration
- ½ batch Italian meringue prepared according to recipe
- 225 grams raspberries
- Chocolate writing pen one small tube
Instructions
- Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt to a bowl. Stir together with a spatula or whisk.
- In a second bowl, combine the remaining ingredients: egg, champagne, milk, sunflower oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth, then pour into the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to fold everything into a smooth batter.
- Divide the batter into three equal portions (or directly into three cake pans if you have them). Pour into a greased and floured cake pan.
- Bake the cakes for 20 minutes at 160°C/320°F (conventional oven) or until done.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cakes cool, make the Italian meringue according to the recipe.
- Time to assemble the cake! Place the first cake layer on a plate or cake stand and spread a layer of meringue on top. Tear or cut some raspberries in half and gently press them into the meringue. Place the second layer on top and repeat. Finish with the third layer, making sure the flat bottom of the cake becomes the top.
- Frost the cake with a thin crumb coat of meringue first, then apply a smooth final coat.
- As you can see, I added a decorative swirl pattern on the sides. To do this, place the cake on a turntable and gently press a small offset spatula (or even a spoon!) against the bottom edge. Slowly spin the cake while moving the spatula upward to create a spiral effect.
- It’s not difficult, but it may take a little practice. If you’re not happy with it, simply smooth the cake again and try once more.
- Now you can finish the top of the cake. Knead the chocolate writing tube slightly to soften it. Start by piping the main numbers on the clock: 12, 3, 6, and 9. Then add the dots in between so everything is evenly spaced. You can pipe all the numbers, but on such a small cake I found it too crowded. Finally, pipe the clock hands so it looks like a few minutes before midnight.
- Place a raspberry in the center. Use the remaining raspberries to decorate the edge of the cake.
Tips
You can also melt chocolate yourself and pipe the decorations using a piping bag or parchment cone.
How to store
You can easily prepare parts of the cake ahead of time. The cake layers can be baked several days in advance and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. I recommend making the meringue and decorating the cake on the day of serving. Store the finished cake (covered) outside the fridge.