Chocolate Red Wine Cake
A remarkably simple cake recipe that takes all the shortcuts you could imagine, great for weeknights or busier times. But still delicious; it's surprisingly light. I pulled this recipe from https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/red-wine-chocolate-snack-cake and primarily made it to use some leftover red wine that I had, but I was pleasantly surprised by the result. The red wine added a nice tartness that contrasted well with the chocolate. I probably wouldn't make it again unless I specifically had red wine I needed to use, but it's a simple and versatile recipe.
Active Time: 40 min
Total Time: 2 hr 30 min
Ingredients
Batter:
> flour (1 1/4 cups)
> cocoa powder (1/3 cup)
> baking soda (1 tsp)
> salt (1/2 tsp)
> espresso powder (1/2 tsp)
> sugar (1 cup)
> egg, beaten (1)
> butter, melted (1/2 stick)
> red wine (1 cup)
> vanilla extract (1 tsp)
Ganache:
> chocolate, chopped (3 oz)
> butter, diced (2 tbsp)
> honey (1 tbsp)
> powdered sugar (1/4 cup)
> wine (2 tbsp)
Putting it all together:
> flaky salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round pan with butter and line with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, beaten egg, and melted sugar until pale.
3. Mix together everything, then whisk in wine and vanilla until fully incorporated.
4. Pour all the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until fully cooked (a toothpick inserted in comes out clean). Set aside and let cool completely.
5. Invert cake onto a plate, then re-invert onto a wire rack.
6. Make the ganache by adding chopped chocolate, butter, and honey into a microwave-safe bowl and microwaving at 20s intervals until melted. Between each microwave session, wipe down the sides with a spatula and stir.
7. Sift powdered sugar into the ganache and mix until fully incorporated. Add a splash of wine and mix until fully incorporated. Let thicken for a few minutes.
8. Spread the ganache all over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides as well. Sprinkle with a touch of flaky salt. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Sifting the powdered sugar into the ganache is very important. I learned this the hard way -- if you don't you're much more likely to end up with a lumpy ganache with little bits of powdered sugar.
> Feel free to adjust the amount of wine depending on your taste. This recipe is a touch too much wine for my personal taste and I'd adjust down the amount of wine by ~25%. You could also different kinds of alcohol; a splash of bourbon or other whiskey could be good in this.
> This recipe takes a whole bunch of shortcuts; obviously you could also make the ganache in a double-boiler as well.