History

When Alex and Phyllis Madonna opened the Madonna Inn on Highway 101 in 1958, they committed to pink: pink booths, pink sugar, and a bakery case anchored by pink champagne cake. The inn's bakery still hand-makes the cake daily and bills itself as home of the famous pink champagne cake, selling whole tiers to travellers and slices to anyone passing the Copper Cafe counter. It has outlived every trend to become the city's de facto celebration cake.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield One 20 cm layer cake, serves 10Hands-on 50 minTotal 2 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 300 g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 225 g butter, softened
  • 300 g caster sugar
  • 5 egg whites
  • 180 ml pink sparkling wine, opened and slightly flat
  • 60 ml whole milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Pink food colouring
  • 500 ml double cream
  • 60 g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp gelatine bloomed in 2 tbsp sparkling wine

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 175C and line two 20 cm tins.
  2. Cream butter and sugar until pale, then beat in vanilla.
  3. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt; add to the butter in thirds, alternating with the sparkling wine and milk.
  4. Whip egg whites to soft peaks and fold through with a drop of pink colouring.
  5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean; cool completely.
  6. Whip cream with icing sugar and the dissolved gelatine to stiff peaks, tint pale pink, then fill and frost the layers.
  7. Chill at least 1 hour before slicing.

Tip from the editors. Flat sparkling wine folds in more evenly than fresh; open the bottle an hour ahead and give the cake a full chill before cutting.

Where to eat pink champagne cake

Pink champagne cake in San Luis Obispo

Madonna Inn Bakery ★ 4.4

Bakery$$Madonna RoadDaily 07:00-22:00Walk-in onlyLayer cakes made fresh daily

Madonna Inn Bakery calls itself home of the famous pink champagne cake, hand-finishing layer cakes daily inside San Luis Obispo's pink palace since 1958.

Tip: Whole cakes are subject to availability, so order ahead; a boxed slice survives the drive up Highway 1 surprisingly well.

Worth the queue: Pink champagne cake

100 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Madonna Inn Copper Cafe ★ 4.1

American$$Madonna RoadDaily 07:00-22:00

Madonna Inn Copper Cafe serves all-day diner classics under hammered copper and pink leather, with the famous cake case by the door in San Luis Obispo.

Signature: Pink champagne cake, Diner classics

Order: Any diner classic followed by pink champagne cake from the bakery case.

Tip: The bakery counter sells whole pink champagne cakes to travel; slices go fastest on weekend evenings.

100 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 Book →

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