Marbled Red Wine and Chocolate Cake
Let's start this beautiful Sunday with some happy news:
The Eat In My Kitchen book is one of Food52's '15 Piglet Community Picks 2017'! Thank you so much for your book love and support! And if I may ask you for a little more support, it would be fantastic if you could write a review of my book on Amazon, it can be a quick one, but it would help me a lot. Here are the links:
So, back to my kitchen: I've always had a sweet tooth, but I'm a bit of a piggy at the moment. There isn't a single day without cake on the table. Be it baked by myself, or a luscious piece of New York Cheesecake or hazelnut mascarpone torte from my favorite cafés around the corner; or those ultra soft and spongy yeast rolls and buns from a bakery - also just around the corner - that I only discovered a few months ago. I need my sugar no matter what my responsible mind tries to convince me of. Maybe I should have a day or two without it, I don't care. I'm the happiest person in the world when I'm snuggled into my beloved Butterfly Chair - that's currently covered in sheep fur for seasonal reasons - with a cup of Earl Gray tea on my lap and a large piece of cake close at hand.
Last week I had even more reason to bake, two birthdays in the calendar called for a sweet feast. I made the Poppy Seed and White Chocolate Babka that I shared with you last Sunday, peanut butter meringues (the recipe still needs some tweaking, but it'll come up soon), and a marvelous marbled red wine and chocolate cake. It's a marriage between my long loved Red Wine Cake and my classic Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake - I couldn't be more satisfied with the result. It's a little less sweet than my original pink wine creation due to the bittersweet chocolate batter swirled in and it's just perfect. Imagine a large bite of this fluffy cake covered in sticky red wine glaze melting in your mouth. Heaven.
Marbled Red Wine and Chocolate Cake
Makes 1 Bundt cake
dry breadcrumbs, for sprinkling the pan
organic eggs, separated, 6
fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon
plain flour 300g / 2 1/3 cups
baking powder 3 teaspoons
ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons
unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoons, plus 30g / 1/3 cup for the chocolate batter
butter, at room temperature, 210g / 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons
granulated sugar 250g / 1 1/4 cup, plus 1 heaping tablespoon for the chocolate batter
red wine 120ml /1/2 cup
For the icing
icing sugar 220g / 2 1/4 cups
red wine 4-5 tablespoons
bittersweet chocolate, grated, 1 tablespoon
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (preferably convection setting). Butter a 23cm / 9″ Bundt pan and sprinkle lightly with breadcrumbs.
Whisk the egg white and salt until stiff, set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and 2 teaspoons of the cocoa powder.
In the large bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 250g / 1 1/4 cup of the sugar for a few minutes until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and continue mixing until thick and creamy. Add the red wine and mix until well combined. Using a wooden spoon, fold the egg white and the flour mixture into the butter mixture, alternating about 1/3 at a time, combining well in between.
Scrape half the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Stir the remaining cocoa powder (30g / 1/3 cup) and sugar (1 heaping tablespoon) into the remaining batter, mix until well combined. Dollop the chocolate batter on top of the lighter batter and spread carefully. Using a small fork, swirl through the 2 batters, carefully from top to bottom, pulling slowly once all the way through the pan. Bake for about 40 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until golden and spongy. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool for 2-3 minutes, then shake the pan a little and flip the cake onto a plate to cool completely. If the cake won’t come out, place the warm Bundt pan into a large bowl filled with cold water. This will help loosening the cake from the pan.
For the icing, in a medium bowl, whisk the icing sugar with 4 tablespoons of red wine until smooth. Add more wine if the mixture is too thick. Drizzle the icing over the cake and sprinkle with chocolate while the icing is still soft. Enjoy!
Red Wine Cake with Cinnamon and Chocolate
This is the cake of my late teenage years, made with red wine, bittersweet chocolate chunks and cinnamon. It's spongy, juicy and so rich in taste! My friends and I were obsessed with it, we baked it for every possible occasion. That's a while ago now and I've since moved on to other great cakes but today I thought it's time again: pink cake for the weekend!
I must say it was yesterday that this idea came to mind. I baked it and was surprised by the cakes texture until I noticed that I didn't put in the right amount of wine - I mixed up milliliters and cups on my measuring cup and put in far too little red wine. The cake turned out much too dry and hard on the outside. I was confused at first, wondering if the memory was sweetened by time but I remembered this cake so soft and juicy that I knew I must have mixed up the recipe (I even questioned my oven's reliability for a second). Today I got my second chance and my pink cake turned out as pretty and delicious as I remembered it!
Red Wine Cake with Chocolate and Cinnamon
For 1 loaf tin, about 23cm x 10cm / 9" x 4", you need
For the dough
butter 250g / 9 ounces
granulated sugar 250g / 9 ounces
organic eggs 4
plain flour 250g / 9 ounces
baking powder 3 teaspoons
cocoa powder 3 teaspoons
cinnamon, ground, 2 teaspoons
a pinch of salt
red wine 125ml
bittersweet chocolate, chopped, 100g / 3.5 ounces
For the icing
icing sugar (100g / 3.5 ounces) mixed with red wine or water (3-4 tablespoons)
Set your oven to 165°C / 330°F (fan-assisted oven). Butter your loaf tin and dust with flour.
Combine the dry ingredients (except the sugar). Mix the butter together with the sugar till fluffy, add the eggs, one at a time, and continue mixing for a couple minutes. Add the dry ingredients and the red wine and mix until smooth. Gently fold in the chocolate and scoop into your prepared tin. Bake for 65 minutes or until golden. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean, and let it cool. Spread the icing sugar on top of the cake to finish its pink glory.
