This mulled wine cake, wonderfully tender and moist, begins with a dead simple cake batter. Mulled wine—which goes into the batter, the icing, and an optional mulled wine syrup— brings an acidity that goes well with warm holiday spices. If you like flavor, and you are a fan of the annual glass of mulled wine, I really think you will love this cake.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cups red wine: 1 piece
- whole star anise pods: 4 piece
- whole cloves: 8 piece
- allspice berries: 6 piece
- brandy: 2 Tbsp
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour: 1 piece
- cocoa: 2 Tbsp
- kosher salt: 1 tsp
- baking soda: 1 tsp
- 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon: 1 piece
- 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger: 1 piece
- pinch cayenne pepper: 1 piece
- light brown sugar: 0.5 cup
- white sugar: 0.5 cup
- orange zest: 2 Tbsp
- vegetable oil: 0.5 cup
- eggs: 2 piece (beaten)
- hot mulled wine: 0.66667 cup
- confectioner's sugar: 2 cups
- to 4 tablespoons cooled mulled wine: 3 piece (or as needed)
- mulled wine: 1 cup
- white sugar: 1 cup
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Generously oil a 10-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment.
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Combine red wine, star anise, cloves, allspice berries, and brandy in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer gently for 15 minutes. Reserve 2/3 cup hot mulled wine for the cake batter, and set aside the remaining mulled wine to cool completely. Chef's Note: If you plan to make the optional wine syrup, begin by making a double recipe of mulled wine, so that you will have enough to make the wine syrup later.
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Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, brown sugar, and white sugar in a bowl. Add zest, oil, and eggs. Use a fork or whisk to stir together until flour disappears.
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Whisk in reserved 2/3 cup hot mulled wine until a smooth, shiny batter forms; transfer into the prepared cake pan. Tap on the counter a few times to release air bubbles.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, but begin checking for doneness at 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted near the center should come out virtually clean. The cake may take a few minutes longer, depending on your oven.
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Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan and remove the parchment. Cool cake completely on the wire rack.
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Whisk confectioner’s sugar with 3 to 4 tablespoons cooled mulled wine together in a small bowl until you have a smooth, pourable icing. If icing is too thin, add a little more confectioner’s sugar; if too thick, add a little more wine. Drizzle icing over the cake using the whisk, waving it back and forth and letting the icing fall onto the cake in any pattern you want.
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For the optional wine syrup, bring 1 cup mulled wine and 1 cup white sugar to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Cool completely and chill before using. Chef John Chef's Note: For more wine flavor, you can drizzle some wine syrup over the cake while still warm, before icing, as a soak. And/or you can also, after icing, pour a small amount of wine syrup over plated slices of cake. And wine syrup can be served on the side to be poured over at the table. It's up to you.
