The idea for a Chocolate Cabernet Cake was not entirely my own. I live in St. Louis, and there is the most incredible micro-creamery called Clementine’s. They have the most decadent, rich, incredible ice cream in the entire world. One of my favorite flavors is their chocolate cabernet ice cream. It is such a beautiful blend of wine and chocolate, and I began to wonder if I could translate it into a cake. So, I got to work. When I recipe test, I usually have to make at least three trials before I get the recipe right. Somehow, even though I basically threw everything into a bowl and prayed that it would bake correctly, this recipe came out perfectly. God must have been looking down on me this day because WOW this cake is straight out of heaven. The cake itself is unbelievably moist and the notes of red wine really step it up a whole level.
Chocolate cabernet cake will soon become your favorite as it quickly became mine. The best thing is, since we are baking, we don’t need any sort of fancy wine. A $4 bottle would be perfectly acceptable. I used Burlwood Cellars wine from Aldi, and it was delicious. I thoroughly enjoy the subtle wine flavor in this rich chocolate cake, and I’m sure you’ll fall head over heals for this chocolate cabernet cake.
What kind of cocoa is best? Does it matter?
Up until about 4 years ago, I had no concept of “types” of cocoa. To me, there was Hershey’s 100% Natural Cocoa (if I were lucky) and most often, Aldi basic brand cocoa. I later learned that both of these are natural cocoa powders and that there was a whole world of chocolate flavor out there to explore. I went through many brands and types of cocoa powders, learning about dutch-processed, blends, black cocoa, and even cacao powder. In the end, I concluded that I preferred dutch-processed, which made me re-evaluate just how I bake my recipes.
Though I prefer dutch-processed, you may prefer the more acidic natural cocoa powder that is common in America. If that is your preference, that is totally cool! However, you will have to make a small adjustment to this recipe if you want to stick with natural cocoa. Different cocoa powders have different pH levels, meaning they react differently depending on what kind of leavener you are using. For this recipe if you would like to swap for natural cocoa, you can, but you should swap the amounts of baking powder and baking soda, meaning now you would use 2 teaspoons of baking soda and only 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder. This will give the correct rise to your cake instead of having a sad, flat cake coming out of your oven.
Chocolate Cabernet Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 3/4 cup Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
For the Frosting:
- 1½ cups Unsalted Butter
- 3½ cups Powdered Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ⅔ cup Cocoa Powder
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3-4 tablespoons Cabernet Sauvignon
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Grease and line three 8" cake rounds. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, milk, and wine. Whisk thoroughly to combine and then add the dry ingredients. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just the last streak of flour disappears. Be careful not to over-mix or else you will have a tough cake.
- Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared cake pans and allow to bake for 40-50 minutes, checking at the 40 minute mark. When the cakes are done, remove them from the oven and allow to cool before removing from their pans.
For the Frosting:
- Beat the butter, powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder together until smooth.
- Add the vanilla and wine and beat on high speed for 2 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy. Frost the cake.
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