This Red Wine Chocolate Cake is deep, delicious, rich and perfect to entertain with!
I have SUCH an amazing post for you guys today.
It starts with this amazing book, Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes, by my friend, Lindsay.
She is the amazingly talented blogger behind Life, Love, and Sugar. And before I tell you about her book and about her blog, can I tell you about her?
I first met Lindsay in person at BlogHer Food last year in Chicago. She has blogged in the past about her struggles with infertility. And though there are a lot of things that connect Lindsay and I, I will never forget standing in Eataly with her in Chicago and just talking about how heartbreaking it is to want a baby that you can’t have. Between my own struggles with infertility and losing Elliot . . . I get it.
Beyond the bond that comes from something like that, Lindsay is such an amazing blog friend. Every time I hang out with her in person she reminds me of just how amazing it is that someone that you talk to online can be an actual friend.
And you guys.
You HAVE to check out what she can do with a cake. Every.single.time. she posts a new cake, I have major #cakeenvy <—- it’s a thing.
She is crazy talented, and that is exactly why you need to buy her book. Not only does she give you tons of amazing cake recipes in her book, she also gives you so many techniques to make you decorate cakes like a master. And not just tips, she gives you photo tutorials, so you can really see how to do it.
If baking beautiful cakes has been a wish of yours, you need to buy this book. Or if you know someone who has a passion for baking, they need this book for the holidays.
Red Wine Chocolate Cake
Obviously, when I saw that there was a cake made with red wine, I knew that was the one I had to share with all of you. In Lindsay’s book, it is a sheet cake, and my good friend, Holly, showed ya’ll yesterday how to do that. So today I turned it into a layer cake.
Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream
It has a beautiful and delicious Raspberry Buttercream Frosting that is perfection with this cake. That combined with the Red Wine Chocolate Cake makes this a decadent dessert that is perfect for the holidays or just a great birthday celebration!
If you make this cake, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Red Wine Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup sweet red wine
- 3/4 cup milk room temperature
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs room temperature
For Frosting
- 2 cups fresh raspberries
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter room temperature
- 1 cup 2 TBSPs vegetable shortening
- 9 cups powdered sugar
- sprinkles
- chocolate for shaving
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 9 inch cake pans by place parchment paper in the bottom and spraying the sides with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the salt, red wine, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and eggs. Pour the wine mixture into the flour mixture and stir until smooth. The batter will be thin.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the three pans and bake until a tooth pick comes out with just a few crumbs, 22 to 25 minutes. Remove from the cake pan a few minutes after baking, remove parchment paper, and let it cool completely.
- To make the frosting, puree the raspberries until smooth. Strain to remove the seeds. You should have approximately 1/2 a cup of raspberry puree. Beat the butter and vegetable shortening until smooth. Add the raspberry puree. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until it is all added and the frosting is smooth.
- After the cakes have cooled, level the tops of the cakes using a serrated knife. Place the first of those two on the cake stand. Add one cup of the frosting. Add the second cake, with the removed dome top. Add another cup of frosting. Finally, add the third layer. Pipe on dollops of frosting using an 808 icing tip. Hold the tip approximately 1/2 an inch over the top of the cake and put pressure on the frosting bag, piping a dollop of frosting onto the edge of the cake, releasing once it has spread outwards, touching the dollop next to it. (It's helpful to practice on a plate first.) Make a ring of dollops around the outside of the cake, and then repeat, working your way inward.
- Add sprinkles, and chocolate shavings to the top of the cake. A vegetable peeler works well to create chocolate shavings.
did you make this
Red Wine Chocolate Cake
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
This is a GORGEOUS cake Lisa!! Lindsay is a genius.
For real!
Lori says
This cake looks beautiful, and interesting, I cant wail to try it. Which sweet red wine do you suggest?
I just used a red blend, Lori. I hope you enjoy it!
Judy says
Wish I didn’t live in a dry county or I would be making this beautiful cake tonight, with a different icing~I hate raspberries.
I think you could use strawberries in their place!
Melissa Howell says
Hey Lisa, I don’t drink wine, but do you think grape juice might work? This cake looks beyond delicious! I did not know about Lindsay’s blog, either, but now I’ve got her book on my Christmas wish list! Glad you shared!
Melissa, the original version of this cake in Lindsay’s book is made with coffee instead of wine and this was another spin she put on it. Though I know a lot of people swear by using hot boiling water in the place of coffee, so you could try that.
Hala says
I don’t drink wine as well. Any alternative? thanks
The original version of this cake in Lindsay’s book is made with coffee instead of wine and this was another spin she put on it. Though I know a lot of people swear by using hot boiling water in the place of coffee, so you could try that.
Lindsay @ Life, Love and Sugar says
OMG Lisa, you got me all teary! I love you girl! It’s hard to believe we only met in person for the first time a year ago.
THIS CAKE! I love the layered version – it’s so beautiful! I’m so glad you like the book! Thank you so much for sharing it! :)
Love you Lindsay! You are my cake (and so many other things) hero!
Julianne @ Beyond Frosting says
Look at this amazing layer cake!! Gorgeous! I’m so happy that blogging has connected us all, even when you make me cry :)
Lol! Love you Julianne!
Ginny Johnson says
Beautiful! So… when can we expect the Poke Cake version to debut? ♡ I love your spin on decadence! ♡
That is genius Ginny!!! OMG! SO SMART Okay . . . . but Red Wine in the chocolate cake and then filling the holes of the poke cake with . . . what?? Email me at lisa @ wineandglue (dot) com so we can be all secretive about it ;)
Noor-e-saba says
Lisa! Your Cakes Was Damn Awesome.
Vicki says
I would love to make this recipe, but would prefer to make cupcakes because I’m making it for a birthday celebration in a public place & the cupcakes would be easier to eat. Would I need to make any adjustments to the recipe?
I don’t think so Vicki! I think it is good to go as is, but I say that with the caveat that I haven’t tried it as cupcakes.
Vicki says
Thank you, I’m going to give it a shot this weekend, I’ll let you know how they turned out.