Strawberries and Champagne Cupcakes

No matter what the occasion, these Strawberry and Champagne Cupcakes, with mascarpone, marshmallow, and strawberry frosting can help you celebrate. These cupcakes call for only a cup of champagne, just enough bubbly left over to have a glass (or two) and truly make your occasion extra special! (makes 24 cupcakes)

• Cupcake ingredients:
• Dry Ingredients:
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of maple sugar or regular granulated sugar

• Wet ingredients:
• 2 cups of fresh cleaned, trimmed and chopped strawberries
• 1 cup of Champagne (or sparkling wine)
• 2 cups of unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 cup of maple syrup (only the real stuff)
• 2/3 cup of melted butter, cooking oil or melted shortening

• Frosting:
• 500ml of whipping cream
• 1 cup of icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla( I also used vanilla beans)
• 1 large container of mascarpone Italian cream cheese ( about 500g or 1lb)
• about 2 cups of marshmallows
• 2 tablespoons of fresh grated orange rind
• 1 cup of fresh strawberries, pureed

1. In a large bowl, toss strawberries in maple sugar and soak in champagne overnight. If you only have the day, a few hours will do. Cover and keep refrigerated. 
2. In another large bowl, sift all dry ingredients, except maple sugar.
3. In a third large bowl, combine apple sauce, maple syrup and butter, slowly add dry ingredients to the mixture while stirring. Stir until all ingredients have combined and no dry spots or lumps are visible. Drain strawberries and pour the liquid into the batter and stir.
4. Preheat your oven to 385*C and line your cupcake trays. Each cupcake cup should be filled only half way with batter, then evenly distribute the strawberries amongst the cups by placing a few into each half filled cup. Bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven and let cool.
5. While your cakes are cooking, beat whipped cream until it forms stiff peaks. Sift in icing sugar, add vanilla and orange rind and stir.
6. In another large bowl, stir mascarpone until smooth. Stir in melted marshmallows while hot ( melt in microwave for about 30 seconds) combine until smooth and a little bit gummy.
7. Fold your whipped cream into mascarpone mixture, add a little a time, until both whipped cream and mascarpone are completely combined and uniform.
8. Add your pureed strawberries and stir, the frosting will become nice and pink. Taste and determine your level of preferred sweetness, I don't enjoy frosting when it's overly sweet, so if you need to add more icing sugar or pureed strawberries do so at this point.
9. With a piping bag ice cooled cupcakes, if you're simply using a knife or spatula to ice your cupcakes, you'll likely need far less frosting, so half all the ingredients and make only half the frosting.