Champagne Cake — Ringing in the New Year the Way MawMaw Taught Me

New Year's Eve and the last day of 2018, which had been a year of significant things: the LSU summer program, the start of high school, Jamal's scholarship, the kitchen knives, MawMaw Shirley's pepper jelly, and a hundred smaller moments that accumulated into something I could see clearly only from this distance. I sat with my journal on New Year's Eve afternoon and wrote a list of what the year had given me. It filled two pages.

MawMaw Shirley hosts New Year's Eve for the family and the rule is that you must eat black-eyed peas and greens on New Year's Day — the peas for luck and prosperity, the greens for money, and whoever argues with the symbolism gets fewer peas, which is its own kind of punishment. I had made a point of learning her recipe this year: the peas cooked long with ham hock, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper, finished with cider vinegar to brighten them at the end. I made them myself this New Year's Eve to bring to her house. She tasted them when I arrived and nodded and said, "These are right." That is the approval I work for.

We saw the New Year in at her house: Daddy and Uncle Terrence watching the game, the younger cousins doing something on their phones, MawMaw and Mama and me in the kitchen talking while the peas finished on the stove. The ball dropped on TV at midnight and we hugged and said Merry New Year the way we always do, which is the Robinson family's private joke about mixing up the expression. I don't know when it started. I know it will never stop.

2018 was a good year. I am grateful for every part of it — the hard parts most of all, because the hard parts were where I found out what I was made of. 2019 was going to ask more of me in school and I was going to meet it the same way. With preparation and intention and the specific kind of faith that is not about luck but about your own work. That kind of faith you build yourself. I intend to keep building it.

After the peas were declared right and the ball had dropped and we’d said “Merry New Year” the way the Robinsons always do, I wanted something to mark the moment — something that felt like the occasion itself, bright and celebratory and worth the effort. A champagne cake felt exactly right: the same spirit as midnight, the same sense that some things deserve to be dressed up and honored. MawMaw’s approval on the peas was enough to carry me into the new year with confidence, and this cake was how I chose to celebrate that.

Champagne Cake

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup champagne or dry sparkling wine, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• Champagne Buttercream:
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3–4 tablespoons champagne
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• Gold or silver sprinkles, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3–4 minutes.
4. Add egg whites and vanilla. Add the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
5. Alternate wet and dry. Combine the champagne and milk in a small measuring cup. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the champagne mixture (beginning and ending with flour). Mix just until combined — do not overmix.
6. Bake. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake 28–32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
7. Make the buttercream. Beat the softened butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low. Add champagne one tablespoon at a time, vanilla, and salt, then beat on medium-high until fluffy and spreadable, about 2 minutes.
8. Assemble and frost. Place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread a generous layer of buttercream on top. Place the second layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake. Finish with sprinkles if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 74g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 190mg