Chocolate Merlot Cake for Your Valentine
This week I am gearing up for Valentine’s Day and I hope you’ll join me! I’ve long proclaimed that I am not a devotee of crazy chocolate covered Hallmark holidays. But a few sweets and a glass of champagne are always a good idea. That is where decadent chocolate merlot cake comes in. They can easily be baked up during naptime, or even after dinner, and they contain everyone’s favorite ingredient: wine.
Don’t worry, the alcohol bakes when when they are in the oven. But there is undoubtedly a lingering grape flavor that is left behind. The cakes taste like a deep red wine-flavored truffle which is just the thing for a sweet Valentine treat, don’t you think?
This cake all makes 2 9-inch round cakes which can be frosted to make a layer cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup Dutch process cocoa
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup Merlot wine
- Confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)
- For the Glaze (optional):
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 6-cake mini-bundt cake pan and set aside.
- In an electric mixer beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs and vanilla, and beat well. In a small bowl mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. With the mixer on low, add one third of the flour mixture followed by 1/3 of the wine, beating well after each addition. Alternate adding the ingredients two more times before mixing the batter until everything is incorporated.
- Fill each bundt cake cup ¾ full and baking for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with 1 more round to make 6 more mini bundt cakes.
- To top the cakes: Either shower them with confectioners' sugar, or make a glaze by whisking together the three glaze ingredients.
[…] treat is my gift to you this Valentine’s Day week. I know, we’ve talked about a few sweet things lately but this baby is the ultimate. It is so easy. Really, truly easy. And it is unbelievably […]