• To make the cupcakes: Preheat your oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin with cupcake liners. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, and salt.Whisk to combine.
• In a second mixing bowl with hand mixer (or stand mixer) combine your melted butter and sugar. Mix to combine. Add in your eggs one at a time, whisking to combine after each addition. 4. Add in your vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
• Alternately, add your champagne and flour, beginning and ending with your flour. Be careful not to overmix.
• Scoop the batter into your prepared pans using a cookie scoop. Fill about 2/3 full. Do not overfill.Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven. Remove cupcakes from the pan and allow to cool onto a wire cooling rack before frosting.

For the sparkling cranberries

• Place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• To a medium saucepan, add in your 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Add in your cranberries to coat in the mixture. Remove from the heat.
• Place the cranberries on the cooling rack to dry for about an hour.
• Once dry, roll the cranberries in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar. Place back on the cooling rack to dry again

For the frosting

• In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, water, champagne, and 1/4 cup sugar. Heat over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until the cranberries break down. Then place the mixture in a food processor and pulse. Then place the mixture into a fine mesh seive set over a bowl, pushing the mixture through. You should end up with about a 1/2 cup of puree. Set aside to cool.
• In your stand mixer, add your butter and cream until smooth. Add in your powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Mix on low until combined. Add in your 3 tablespoons champagne, and 1 teaspoon vanilla, and mix until combined. If your frosting begins to curdle when you add the champagne, just simply keep mixing, it will smooth out. Add in the cooled cranberry puree. Mix on medium speed for 8 minutes until light and fluffy. Place your frosting in a piping bag with a decorating piping tip added (I used Ateco closed star tip #847) and pipe the frosting on top of each cupcake. Top with the sparkling cranberries.