Never underestimate the miraculous power of a chocolate and red wine cake. And never forget how important it is to create memories and preserve them.
This reflection also gave rise to the idea for the book that will be. First, let me tell you about this recipe for chocolate and red wine cake.
I remember it as the forbidden cake.
The one that we children weren’t allowed to eat but that nonna used to make at this time of year, with the arrival of the new wine, which, for me, born and raised in Romagna, was Cagnina.
Cagnina is a sweet, fruity red wine made from the Terrano grape variety. It is a wine to be drunk young (novello).
I remember the first cold evenings, the adults sitting around the table in the basement of our house, the fireplace lit and cards in hand, eating walnuts, scroccadenti cookies, ciambella, or chestnuts roasted in the flickering fire. And the scent of Cagnina in autumn, and vino caldo (mulled wine) around December. Vino caldo is the old way the Romagnoli called vin brulé.
Kitchen Notes
This dessert is more of a dessert than a ciambella, a typical Italian cake for breakfast. It has a soft and voluptuous texture and an intense flavor.
I didn’t use Cagnina wine, but a red, still Sangiovese from Romagna. You can use another red wine, not sparkling.
The dessert is easy to make, and you can combine the ingredients in a bowl with a hand whisk or an electric whisk, or in a stand mixer (use the wire whisk attachment; if you don’t know which one that is, choose the one that looks like a hand whisk).
Remember to add one egg at a time, mixing well before adding the next one.
The cake bakes for about 30 minutes. If you do the toothpick test, it should not come out completely clean.
Nonna finished baking with the oven off, warm but not too hot, so that the inside remained moist when cut. You will find all the instructions in the recipe.
For the glaze
I used agar agar as a thickener. It is important to prepare the glaze when the chocolate cake has cooled completely; do not put the glaze on the cake while it is still hot.
And since agar agar tends to solidify quickly, when the glaze is ready, spread it immediately and smooth it out quickly using a spatula.
If you prefer, you can decorate the cake with a generous sprinkling of dark chocolate, white chocolate for a color contrast, or fresh fruit or black cherries in syrup.
The chocolate and red wine cake recipe is a family recipe that each generation passes down to the next on an old sheet of paper. It was time to write it down on the pages of my blog, too.
And now, let me tell you something about the book that will be.
The value of memories, places I have never seen but love to return to, and the book that will be
Until now, I had never considered the value of my memories.
I realized this thanks to the appreciation of the people I meet while cooking or who write to me after reading one of my newsletters or a post here on the blog.
I also rethought an email from some years ago where a gentle lady wrote to thank me because, after reading the newsletter about horse chestnuts, she understood why she and her sisters had found so many in their mom’s drawers.
The words came back to me, making me reflect on how a personal memory of mine gave someone I didn’t know answers and comfort.
That person had visited a place (of my past) she had never been to.
The book that will be stems from this thought and from the realization that ever since I was a child, I have been visiting places I have never been to before.
I’m talking about memories and fantastic places I keep returning to that fill me with joy every time I visit, just as they did the first time.
I’ve never once come back disappointed from the North Pole. And you?
I will select the places I have never been to that I love the most. Places rich in flavors and aromas.
I am talking about the kitchens I have lived in the past. That of my childhood, of course. But also the warm kitchen of Babette’s Feast and the austere but loving kitchen of Green Gables, where I grew up with Anne Shirley.
I couldn’t think of a better place to meet up and share recipes that will take care of you just as they have always taken care of me.
I’ll leave you with the recipe for a dessert that takes me back to a place that no longer exists, yet still warms my life like a cup of mulled wine in winter.
Keep in Touch
- To receive unpublished recipes, tips, and food stories, sign up for the Tortellini&CO newsletter.
- Follow me on Instagram.
Chocolate and red wine cake
Equipment
- Round mold, 24 cm diameter
Ingredients
- 200 g of butter
- 100 g of dark chocolate
- 150 ml of red wine Read the cooking notes before the recipe.
- 1 g of mixed powder spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves)
- 250 g of 00 flour, sifted
- 16 g of baking powder for cake
- 30 g of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 200 g of powdered sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 eggs, regular
Glaze
- 50 g of dark chocolate
- 30 g of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 20 g of cane sugar
- 50 ml of red wine
- 150 ml of water
- 2 g of agar agar
Instructions
- Melt the butter and chocolate in a small pan in a bain-marie over low heat. Then turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
- Pour the wine and spices into a small saucepan, bring to the boil, and simmer for one minute. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (338°F).
- In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Add a pinch of salt, pour in the melted chocolate and wine, and mix with a hand or electric whisk.
- Add one egg at a time to the dough, stirring with a spatula to incorporate each before adding the next.
- Grease the mold with butter, pour in the mixture, and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven and open the door for two minutes to let the heat escape. Leave the cake to cool in the oven (oven door closed). Do not cover with the glaze until it has cooled completely. And only prepare the icing when you are ready to use it.
Glaze
- Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan.
- Melt the chocolate, stirring, until smooth. The glaze is ready.
- Pour the glaze immediately over the cake, spread it with a spatula, and leave to cool.
Tip
- Store the cake in the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature at least 30 minutes before eating.
