Wow combo - chocolate and red wine (cake) 21 April 2007

Makes a 20 cm (8 inch cake)
Prep. Time: 10-15 mins. Baking time: 1 hour
For sauce: 10-15 mins.

(In Italian: torta al cioccolato e vino rosso)

What is about chocolate and red wine together? This dessert sounds as romantic and decadent as it is. The cake is not too sweet and is great with hot tea or coffee.

It can be served without any sauce - but I feel that it’s the sauce that guarantees swoons from chocoholics. Even a thin sliver will satisfy the most demanding chocoholics out there.

The chocolate drops we substituted with the broken up dark chocolate we also used for the sauce. This gives the cake a nice chunkiness and a little more chew.

Another fantastic chocolate recipe, this time from Contaldo.

You need:
For your cake:
Butter, 200 g (7 oz), softened
Caster sugar, 250 g (9 oz)
Eggs, 4, beaten
Cocoa powder, 25 g (1 oz)
Plain flour, 250 g (9 oz)
Baking powder, 1 teaspoon
Ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon (optional)
Red wine, 100 ml (3.5 fl oz)
Vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon
Plain chocolate drops, 150 g (5 oz)

For chocolate sauce (enough for 2 cakes):
Single cream, 120 ml (4 fl oz)
Plain chocolate, 150 g (5 oz), broken up
Cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoons
Glucose syrup, 1 ½ teaspoons
Butter, 25 g (1 oz)
Sugar, 1 tablespoon

What to do:
Your cake:

1. Preheat oven to 190 deg C/350 deg F/gasmark 4 and lightly grease a loose bottomed 20 cm (8 inch) cake tin.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Gradually beat in the eggs.
4. Then sift in the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and cinnamon (if using) and fold in.
5. Mix in the red wine and vanilla extract, then fold in chocolate drops.
6. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin, then turn out.
7. Coat with chocolate sauce if desired.

Your chocolate sauce:

1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl set over a pan of hot water and stir constantly until the chocolate has melted and the sauce has a smooth, silky consistency.
2. Pour through a sieve, if necessary, to strain out any lumps of cocoa powder.
3. Leave to cool slightly (a minute or two) before covering the cake.
4. Note: the sauce can be used for many other things. When it cools, it sets and can get quite hard. If possible, use immediately after making. Or when making a large batch, keep in the fridge for up to a week and place what you need in a bowl over hot water to melt before using.

More chocolate cake/tart recipes here and here.

From Gennaro Contaldo’s Passione, pp. 242-244