My New Kitchenaid + Red Wine Chocolate Cake

As you may have seen from my Instagram, the husband and I went to pick up my new baby on Sunday! I mean Kitchenaid mixer. After returning some duplicate wedding gifts and using some gift cards, we were able to buy our first Kitchenaid. We picked a matte black beauty and I've been admiring ever since. And using it of course! I whipped up a batch of coconut oatmeal raisin cookies on Sunday afternoon and yesterday while our friend P was over, I made a batch of pizza dough for our dinner and a red wine chocolate cake for dessert. So now I've tried the dough hook, the whisk and the flat beater. I'm in love.

I'm not a big wine drinker and I don't appreciate it as much as many other people do but I wanted to try baking this red wine chocolate cake. As the husband and P said last night, it is a very fine and delicate cake. At first bite you taste the chocolate and then the flavor of the wine follows. Paired with a mascarpone cream, this cake was delicious. And as it is quite rich, we could only take a little slice each. This cake definitely feeds a crowd. I baked it in a 8-inch springform pan and well, we still have 3/4 of the cake left. Any takers?

If you love wine and you love chocolate, then this one's for you!

Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Whipped Mascarpone (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes one 8 or 9 inch cake

For the Cake:
6 tbsp or 85g unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
3/4 cup red wine, any kind you like (I used a cabernet merlot)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

For the Mascarpone Cream:
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

To make the cake, start by preheating the oven to 325F or 160C. Line the bottom of a 8 or 9-inch springform cake pan with parchment paper and lightly grease/butter the sides of the cake pan.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of your mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat well before adding the wine and vanilla extract. The batter will look uneven and a little chunky. Don't worry!

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon right over your wet ingredients. Mix until 3/4 combined, then fold the rest together with a spatula.

Spread cake batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, and maybe a few extra minutes if you are baking in an 8-inch form. The cake is ready when a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The top of the cake should be shiny and smooth. Cool the cake on a rack for 10 minutes before turning it out and leaving it to cool completely on the rack. The cake stores well at room temperature or in the fridge.

When serving, whip up the mascarpone cream. Whip the cream, mascarpone cheese, sugar and vanilla extract together until soft peaks form. Dollop generously on each slice of cake.

Oh and a little FYI, the wine doesn't fully bake out of the cake :)