*Disclosure: This post contains two affiliate links. I receive compensation if you click on these links and make a purchase; however, that is not the reason I promote this product. I personally use this product and wanted to provide you the opportunity to quickly find and purchase it yourself, if you wish to do so. The decision is completely up to you if you would like to purchase this product through these links.

When a family friend asked me to make a cake for his wife’s and his daughter’s birthdays, he asked if I had any cakes that I had wanted to make, but had not tried yet. I thought for a minute and then said that I have exactly the cake for them: Strawberry Champagne Cake. Strawberries and champagne are a classic combination, so I knew that this would be a great birthday cake for them!

Step 1: Brush the Cake with Champagne

Take a pastry or silicon food brush, and generously brush the tops of each layer of sponge. Flip the layers of sponge upside down and brush a small amount of champagne on the bottom of each layer of sponge. Flip the layers of sponge right-side-up.

Step 2: Add Filling, Layer the Cake, And Frost the Cake

• 

• 

Add about a teaspoon of buttercream to the center of the cake board and then place the first layer of sponge on the cake board (the buttercream will act as a glue to ensure that the cake does not slide off the cake board). Add some buttercream to a plastic piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1A piping tip. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the perimeter of the sponge. Using a different piping bag, pipe a layer of strawberry curd onto the sponge. Cut four of the strawberries into approximately 1/8 inch slices and add one layer of strawberry slices onto the strawberry curd.

• 

• 

Add the next layer of sponge and then repeat the process until the cake is fully stacked. Dirty ice/crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Once the buttercream firms up, add a thick layer of buttercream and use a bench scraper or another sharp sided kitchen tool to smooth the sides and top of the cake. Place in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours in order to make sure that the buttercream is very cold and solid when you do the pink drip in Step 4.

Step 3: Drunken Strawberries

Put your remaining strawberries into a bowl and add champagne until it just covers the top of the strawberries. Keep the strawberries in the champagne at room temperature for an hour and a half to two hours. Work on the rest of the steps while the strawberries soak in the champagne. Shortly before adding the strawberries to the cake, remove them from the champagne and place them on a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

Step 4: Pink Drip

Add ¾ cup white chocolate chips and ¼ cup heavy whipping cream to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and microwave again for an additional 15-30 seconds, or until all the white chocolate is melted. This results in a white chocolate ganache. Stir the white chocolate ganache to ensure that the chocolate and cream are well combined and that there are no pieces of white chocolate remaining. Add a very small amount of the pink food gel and stir into the ganache. Add more food gel, if needed, until you reach your desired color. Let the ganache cool to room temperature either by leaving it out for about an hour, or place in the refrigerator for approximately 10-15 minutes. Add the ganache to a plastic squeeze bottle (preferred), a piping bag, or simply use a spoon. Slowly add ganache right along the edge of the top of the cake and allow the ganache to drip down the side of the cake. After making drips down the side of the cake, add a layer of ganache to completely cover the top of the cake. Place in the refrigerator to let the ganache set.

Step 5: Fizzy Bark

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a microwave safe bowl, add some white chocolate melting candy. Microwave in short burst, approximately 20 seconds, until the chocolate is fully melted. Pour half of the chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread into a thin layer. Add a thin layer of culinary crystals into the white chocolate and then quickly add the remaining chocolate and spread into a thin layer. Place the fizzy bark into the freezer for approximately 5-10 minutes, or until the bark is completely set. Once set, remove the bark from the freezer and cover the fizzy bark with either wax paper or parchment paper and break into pieces.

You can find the same culinary crystals I used in the links below. The first link is for the larger bag and the second link is for the smaller bag:

Step 6: Rope Border and Finishing Touches

• 

• 

• 

Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 4B piping tip. To make the rope border on the top of the cake, hold your piping bag at a 45° angle and squeeze the piping bag while making a controlled circular motion with your hand. Once the rope border is complete, add 6 of the strawberries evenly spaced on top of the rope border. Pick pieces of the popping bark that are close to the height of the strawberries and add them in between each of the strawberries. That completes the strawberry champagne cake!

Thank you so much for checking out this post! I hope that you enjoyed it and that you try it out yourself! Please leave a comment below regarding if you tried it, or what other cakes I should try to make!