I've tried a lot of red wine cakes over the years and this Red Wine Chocolate Bundt Cake from Food and Wine is my favorite. Not only is it delicious, but it's a great way to use up half a bottle of red wine. The recipe is especially handy when you buy a new wine that you like but don't love, because even if the wine is not your favorite, it will still taste good when baked into the cake.
This cake is rich enough that you can dust it with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream and fruit. However, if you'd rather throw a chocolate ganache on top, that works too!
Dutch vs. Natural Cocoa Powder
This cake is supposed to be made with natural (acidic) cocoa powder rather than Dutch process. If you only have Dutch process cocoa and would like to try a similar cake, here's another chocolate Bundt cake made with wine that calls for Dutch process cocoa. Update: I recently made this with Dutch process and it was fine. Natural is recommended, but Ghiradelli Dutch also works.
Six Inch Bundt Pan Red Wine Chocolate Cake
This recipe works really well in a six inch (six cup) Bundt pan. To make the small cake, just halve all of the ingredients. Bake time should be around 38 minutes.
Recipe
Red Wine Chocolate Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (260 grams)
- ¾ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (60 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (230 grams)
- 1 ¾ cups sugar (350 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups dry red wine
- Confectioner's sugar for dusting
- Whipped cream for serving
- Glaze
- 3 oz dark chocolate, chopped (84 grams)
- ½ tablespoon butter (7 grams)
- ½ tablespoon corn syrup (10 grams)
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.
- Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
- Beat butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl, using high speed of electric mixer, until fluffy, then add eggs one at a time, beating well. Beat in vanilla.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture gradually, alternating with wine.
- Pour into the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully turn from the pan. Let cool completely, then drizzle glaze over the top.
- To make the glaze, combine the chopped chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream just until it starts to bubble. Combine the cream and the chocolate mixture. Let stand for about 3 minutes, then stir until smooth. Let the glaze cool to the point where it's thick enough to drizzle.
Cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes. Flip from pan and let cool completely before serving.
Ashley says
This looks great! What's better than combining two great ingredients like wine and chocolate?!
hulagirl247 says
hi anna!
hope you and the family had a lovely valentine's day!
they say you should never cook with a wine that isn't worth drinking on it's own - the "theys" i have heard/read this from are quite numbered and people whom i often look to for foodie advice/recipes/inspiration. as i don't personally consume enough wine to consider myself an enthusiast i cannot say that i speak from experience(i am a champagne kind of girl).
that being said - i know you can find some wonderful wines on the cheap - but i would never buy them without research - be it on line or with a wine specialist.
one of the best websites i have found for wine ratings (whereby i actually agree with most of their evaluations) is at wineenthusiast.com - here is the link for the buying guide where you can see the rating on almost any type of wine you could imagine :
http://www.winemag.com/buyingguide/search.asp?db=
glad you found a use for the wine.
i will try to do a search for things to do with bad wine - other than making jelly, vinegar or dumping it on a compost heap.
Lucy says
Yum! Sounds great, I'll definetely have to make this. On another note, have you heard of the Vinturi? It is a wine aerator that is amazing! It can make bad wine taste decent and good wine great! You just hold it over your glass and pour your wine through it - very convenient, doesn't require decanters, etc.. It runs around $35 online and it's worth every penny, trust me! My husband & I do taste tests every time we open a bottle and we also always do it with company and all of us are amazed every time.
dawn says
I was going to ask if you liked it and saw the above comment. I love trying new recipes with wine in them.
Anna says
Todd actually liked it so I guess it was a good use of bad wine.
CookiePie says
What a great idea! Sounds delicious!
Kelly says
That's a great idea. Living alone I often have a cup or two leftover from bottles of wine so this is the perfect solution.
Elyse says
Red wine, chocolate, and spices, yes please!! This cake sounds perfect. I'm sitting down to watch some television, and I would love a slice of this awesome-looking cake right now (I'd like this much more than any glass of wine)!
Carol A, says
Red wine and chocolate - like music to my ears!
It's always fun and rewarding to find a good, inexpensive wine - we love Old Moon Zinfandel from Trader Joes, only $4.99 a bottle - but you do end up with some clunkers in the hunt sometimes, don't you? I've tasted wines that I could feel the headache in the first sip. Not a good sign.
Sounds like a yummy cake. I've never made a red wine chocolate cake, I may just have to try this one! Of course, that means I have to open a bottle of red wine - oh darn...