Red Wine Chocolate Cake

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Chocolate and red wine is a combination that always tingles my taste buds. The dark, bittersweet chocolate and the ruby red wine make up the perfect picture in my mind. It’s a romantic combination, something I imagine having with my loved one on a special day or romantic dinner – although this combination is not for everyone. I happen to know people who would never put these two together and I know that even sommeliers have different opinions on this. But they do agree on one thing – whenever you are looking to pair the two of them, match sweetness with sweetness. That being said, a sweeter wine pairs better with chocolate and the two tastes will engage into a powerful taste on your palate, both looking to draw your attention. If you ever had red wine and chocolate, you know what I’m talking about – that intense flavor of wine and chocolate, lingering on your palate, tingling your taste buds. The better the wine and the chocolate used for this red wine chocolate cake, the better the result. I used a sweet red wine, a no name brand which I quite like drinking once in a while and a dark chocolate of 60+% cocoa content for the sponge. A mix of dark chocolate and milk chocolate was used for the frosting because I thought a bit more sweetness was needed to balance the final taste.

This red wine chocolate cake is something to die for! The red wine sponge cakes are so moist and fragrant and the frosting just makes everything even better!

Servings :1 cake

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Ingredients

Red wine sponge cake:

250 g all-purpose flour
300 g sugar
75 g Dutch processed cocoa powder
4 g baking soda
4 g baking powder
2 g salt
2 eggs
5 g vanilla extract
250 g buttermilk*
125 g neutral vegetable oil
250 g sweet red wine**
100 g dark chocolate (chopped)

Ganache frosting:

300 g heavy cream
250 g dark chocolate (chopped)
100 g milk chocolate (chopped)
30 g butter
1 g salt
10 g vanilla extract

Chocolate decorations:

50 g dark chocolate (chopped)

Instructions

Red wine sponge cake:

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line two round cake pans – 18cm Ø – with baking paper. Place aside until needed.
Bring the red wine to a boil in a saucepan then remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate. Mix until melted and let the mixture cool down slightly.
Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
In a different bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and oil and mix well. Stir in the wine and chocolate mixture.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones and give it a quick mix, just until the flour is incorporated. Don’t over mix or it will form tunnels while baking. A quick mix with a whisk is enough, the batter is not supposed to be smooth as a butter-based one, but not lumpy either. If using an electric mixer, set it on the lowest speed and don’t mix too much.
Evenly divide the batter between the two pans and bake in the oven to 35 minutes or until well risen and the top springs back when touched. The toothpick test may not be the best in this case as the cake is slightly fudgy.
Remove the pans from the oven and let them cool completely.
When chilled, cut the cakes in half to obtain 4 layers.

Ganache frosting:

Bring the cream to the boiling point in a saucepan.
Remove from heat and add the chocolate and butter. Let it stand for 5 minutes then mix until melted and smooth.
Stir in the salt and vanilla then cover the ganache with plastic wrap on the surface and place the bowl in the fridge until set, at least 2 hours.
Divide the ganache into four equal parts.
Layer the cakes and ganache on a platter and place the cake in the fridge until serving.

Chocolate decorations:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a hot water bath.
Very thinly spread the chocolate over a sheet of baking paper. Roll the paper to form a tube and place in the freezer for 10 minutes to set.
Remove the roll from the freezer and unwrap it. The set chocolate will break into these delicate, thin shards.
Pile them on top of the cake just before serving.

Notes

* Make your own buttermilk by combining 250ml milk (1 cup) with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar. Let it sit for 5 minutes to curdle and that’s it – your own buttermilk to use in cakes.
** Replace the wine with water or freshly brewed coffee for a non-alcoholic version of this cake.
If you use coffee instead of wine, add 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder into the ganache.

Red Wine Chocolate Cake