Chocolate Red Wine Cake

Kim from Welcoming Kitchen brings us her recipe for a decadent Chocolate Red Wine Cake for today’s xgfx Vegan MoFo post!

*****************************************************************************

Obviously, there are enough fabulous vegan websites and cookbooks to keep any cook inspired forever. Vegan MoFo proves that! However, almost any dish can be made vegan and made better. Just take a look at the Veganize It! Feature in VegNews if you have any doubts. This means that inspiration can come from anywhere; a menu at a restaurant, a dish a good friend has made or a non-vegan writer.

That happened to me when I was looking for an elegant treat to bring to a women’s party. The theme was a Red Tent Party, and our gracious hostess invited women from all parts of her life to come together to eat, drink, share experiences and just all-around celebrate the strong community that she has formed around her.

I wanted to bring something special, and something that fit with the theme. I found just what I was looking for on the smitten kitchen site. I needed to remake it, though, to make it Welcoming Kitchen-appropriate. On our blog and in our cookbook, all the recipes are not only vegan and gluten-free, but free of all the top 8 allergens.

Using pumpkin as the egg substitute, not only eliminated the cholesterol, but increased the fiber. Bonus! (Especially, since pumpkin is very autumnal, perfect for a red wine/spiced cake!) Using soy-free Earth Balance instead of butter provided scrumptious flavor without the cruelty. Another win! Then, I loved the spice idea and upped it just a little bit. The end result was a beautiful, sophisticated chocolate cake that was appropriate for everyone at the party to enjoy.

Chocolate Red Wine Cake Inspired by Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

• ½ cup pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin is good, but not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder, divided
• 6 tablespoons soy-free Earth Balance
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup vegan white sugar
• ¾ cup vegan red wine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (I used King Arthur brand.)
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon all-spice

• extra Earth Balance and cocoa to prepare the pan
• powdered sugar and cinnamon to dust on top

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Prepare pan by greasing with Earth Balance and dusting with cocoa. Shake out extra cocoa powder. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine pumpkin and ½ teaspoon baking powder.
4. Add Earth Balance and sugars, and cream together.
5. Add remaining ingredients, mix until thoroughly combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The top might still look pretty moist.
8. Cool in pan on cooling rack for 10 minutes, then out of pan until thoroughly cool.
9. Dust cake with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Happy Cooking!
Kim from Welcoming Kitchen