I've never met a woman that didn't like either chocolate or wine. So now imagine marrying the two into a cake! Riiiiight?
I haven't been too active in the kitchen lately and last week for some reason I had been craving both chocolate and wine. Then I thought to myself, how about making a cake using both.
Now, I usually like to do some research on some of these things and everything I saw for a red wine and chocolate cake was a thumbs up. I spent the better part of my Saturday evening making the cake and lemme tell you.....it was all of that and more. 4 of my friends actually demanded cake and got a slice each and their feedback was positive.
That being said, please make this cake and serve it with some unsweetened whipped cream or my fave, marscapone cream. The cake is SUPER rich and really doesn't need any sweetness added to it.
For the cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
220 grams butter
1 cup castor sugar
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 dry wine
For the frosting
200 grams dark chocolate nibs
1/2 cup milk
50 grams unsalted butter
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into one bowl and set aside. In a second bowl, put your butter and both sugars and whisk together until it is a pale yellow colour.
Add your eggs and vanilla essence into the bowl and whisk until the mixture forms a thick paste.
Gently fold in the flour and red wine into the butter mixture a little bit at a time. Do not whisk them in (if you do, you lose the lightness of the cake). Once the mixture is done, spoon it into a well greased/lined baking tin. I used a bundt tin just because its so easy to get a pretty cake design.
Place the cake into the oven for 35 to 40 minutes on the lower shelf. When ready, a toothpick inserted should come out clean. Place the cake on a cooling rack and set aside.
For the ganache frosting, place the chocolate nibs into a bowl and then put your milk and butter into a pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Pour the milk ad butter mixture over the chocolate and use a spoon or which to swirl the chocolate until it melts. Set the mixture aside to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Once cooled, pour the ganache over the cooled cake and serve.