Champagne cake has several definitions. In some recipes, champagne cake is a white cake with champagne added which is thought to give the cake an extra spark or bubble. Most are familiar with the pink champagne cake: a white layer cake filled with either Bavarian cream or rum custard, and frosted with pink butter cream icing.

It is hard to trace the origins of the champagne cake. The cake is most typically associated with retail bakeries, and probably derives from other cakes that would have used a Bavarian cream or custard filling. Occasionally, one will find champagne cake filled with whipping cream as opposed to either of the above. It largely depends upon the bakery preparing the champagne cake.

Most variants of champagne cake, whether pink or white, begin with a white layer cake. In bakeries, of course, one can order sheet cakes for large numbers of people hungry for the dessert. However, the typical presentation is a round cake of two or three layers.

Typically, the champagne cake body should be light, and frothy. It is hard to duplicate effervescence in cake form. This may be why some bakers turned to rum flavored custard, to give the cake a somewhat alcoholic taste. If you like the taste of rum, but not the alcoholic content, it is helpful to know that most commercial custards are made with rum flavoring. Rum flavoring, like vanilla extract has a small amount of alcohol, but it is overall negligible as compared to adding real rum.

For the purist, rum custard contains real rum. Additionally the cake may receive a small coating of rum prior to adding the custard. This is similar to the many Italian cakes that are soaked or at least sprinkled with rum. As an alternative to custard, rum flavored whipping cream, or Bavarian cream, custard with whipped cream folded in, can produce a very fluffy filling for the champagne cake.

Typically, champagne cake is topped with curled shavings of white chocolate, or in the case of pink champagne cake, white chocolate that has been died pink. This is added after the cake is completely frosted with butter cream.

A variant on standard champagne cake is chocolate champagne cake. Filling choices remain the same, but chocolate shavings are used instead to top the cake. As well, the cake body tends to be a light chocolate cake, heavy on egg whites so it is both fluffy and moist.

Champagne cake appears to be making something of a comeback in recent years. It has become quite popular to serve as wedding cake and adapts well for this purpose. The wedding cake of this type goes well with traditional toasting with dry champagne.