How about if I tell you that you can enjoy Fall season with a cozy and delicious cake made with chocolate, pears, spices and wine? No, you don’t have to always bake with pumpkin or apples to be part of this season. You can enjoy spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a whole different level like this recipe that will be your favorite one if you are a chocolate and wine lover like me.
If you follow me for a while, you might remember that I made a similar cake a couple of years ago but this time I wanted to use other ingredients and see the result, let me tell you, the texture of the cake is amazing, it will melt in your mouth and the amount of the spices is the right combo for each bite.
Why making this cake?
- Perfect for Fall.
- Wine in a cake? Yes, please.
- Perfect for Halloween.
- You can enjoy it with a glass of wine.
- Chocolate and wine? Yes, please.
- Pretty and delicious.
If you would like to watch how I made this recipe, visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales
Yield one Bundt cake pan
Ingredients
For the cake
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cups wine. I used Zinfandel but you can use any kind of red wine you prefer
pears, canned and sliced in half (lengthwise). I used the ones from Trader Joe’s and they tasted amazing! Here is a picture of how they look like. I used the whole jar.
For the wine glaze
1 and 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
3-5 tablespoons wine
Directions
Preparing the Bundt cake pan
When you make a Bundt, you want to make sure that it releases from the pan fast and easy without leaving any chunks of cake stuck to the pan. This is why you ALWAYS have to butter and flour your pan sides and bottom. Use a kitchen brush and using softened butter, grease every corner of the pan, do not miss any spot. Finally, dust your pan with some flour but get rid of any excess.
For the cake
1.- Preheat oven to 350 F.
2.- In a bowl sift your dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Set this bowl aside.
3.- In another bowl and using an electric mixer, cream your butter for about 2 minutes. Then, add granulated and light brown sugar and cream all the ingredients for about 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one by one beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla extract.
4.- Now, we are going to add our dry ingredients and wine. In low speed, add one third of the dry ingredients and mix for about 20 seconds, then add half cup of wine and keep mixing, add another third of dry ingredients and mix, add second half of wine and keep mixing. Finally, add the last third of your dry ingredients and mix in low speed until you don’t see any chunk of flour. Do not overmix.
5.- Pour your cake batter into your prepared pan and using a spoon level the top part so all looks smooth.
6.- Add in your pears in a vertical position, the thin part of the pear should go in first. Go all around your cake batter and finish all your pears
7.- Place pan into the oven and bake for about 40minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8.- Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool inside the pan JUST FOR 45 MINUTES because we will be inverting it over a cooling rack while it is still hot. This is a trick for Bundt cakes, otherwise it can stick to the pan.
9.- Now, let the cake cool off completely.
For the icing (drizzle)
1.- In a bowl mix the sifted powdered sugar and wine. The texture of this icing should be thick but pourable. If it is too thin, just add more sugar, if it is too thick, add more wine. Mix well.
2.- Pour this icing into a cup and then pour it all over the cake. This glaze sets fast so if you want to add some sprinkles or something to decorate, do it fast otherwise it won’t stick to the icing.
3.- Let the icing set completely. Cut and serve.
Enjoy!
