Start off Mom’s morning right this Mother’s Day with a Bellini cupcake – the cupcake version of the classic champagne and peach cocktail.  To make the Bellini cupcakes, start with light champagne cupcakes (with a full cup of champagne in the batter), fill them with burnt peach puree, and top them with a burnt peach buttercream.  Sprinkle sparkly sanding sugar over the cupcakes to give them the festive feel of the fizz of a freshly opened bottle of champagne. The only thing missing from the experience will be the pop of the cork. 

Bellini Cupcakes
Yield: 12 cupcakes

Cake Ingredients:
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1 cup champagne
1 ½ cups cake flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In small bowl, mix egg whites and champagne.  Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Mix butter into dry ingredients until it resembles moist crumbs.
Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until fully combined.
Divide evenly between twelve cupcake liners.  Bake for 20 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.

Filling and Frosting Ingredients:
15 oz can sliced peaches
½ cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
White sanding sugar for topping

Filling and Frosting Directions:
Melt two tablespoons of butter in a medium-sized skillet on medium heat.
Drain and discard liquid from peach can.
Use a towel to pat dry the peach slices, removing excess moisture.
Place the peaches in a single layer in the hot skillet.

Cook for about three minutes or until the bottom side is browned, then flip.

Repeat until all sides of the peaches are browned.
Remove peaches from skillet and cool.
Use a food processor or immersion blender to puree the peaches.
Use a small paring knife or cupcake corer to remove a piece of cake from the center of each cooled cupcake.  (You will not need the pieces that you remove, so feel free to eat them!)

Fill each hole with approximately two teaspoons of the peach puree.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter on high speed for five minutes.
Slowly mix in the powdered sugar and beat for another five minutes.
Mix in vanilla extract, salt, and ¼ cup of peach puree and beat for two minutes.

Pipe onto cupcakes using Wilton tip 4B.

Sprinkle cupcakes with white sanding sugar.