If you are looking for something decadent for Valentine’s Day (or any dinner party), this is it. This Wine and Roses Chocolate Cake is beautiful, intensely chocolaty, and wonderfully easy to make. Top it with lightly sweetened whipped cream and serve it with love.
This recipe is inspired by our Chocolate Rose Gianduja cake that Macrina makes for Valentine’s Day, which alternates layers of hazelnut and flourless espresso cake with a hint of rose water. This make-at-home version takes Auguste Escoffier’s mantra “Faites simple” (keep it simple) to heart. It will appeal to the tastes of the most refined epicurean, but anyone with basic baking skills can make it.
The rose water plays off the depth of flavor from the red wine in the chocolate glaze. It’s a lovely combination for a sweet Valentine’s Day treat! For a special presentation, garnish the cake with homemade sugared rose petals, or you can buy candied rose petals at some specialty kitchen stores, or online.
Ingredients
10″ Cake • Serves 10 (but suitable for just 2!)
Cake
1 cup unsalted butter
8 ounces Guittard semisweet chocolate
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 eggs
3/4 teaspoon rose water
Glaze
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon red wine
1 organic rose
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 325º. Brush a 10″ spring-form pan with melted butter. Then cut a parchment paper circle to cover the base and a 3″ band to line the sides.
Place the semisweet chocolate and the butter in a saucepan. Then make a bain-marie (or double-boiler) by setting it atop another saucepan filled with 2″ water. With the water simmering, continually stir the mixture. When completely melted, remove chocolate mixture and allow to cool.
Sift the sugar and cocoa powder into a stand-mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment at medium speed, add eggs 2 at a time until they are fully incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl. With the mixer running at low speed, add the melted chocolate and rose water in a slow stream. Scrape sides of bowl again. Increase mixer to medium-high for 2 minutes. The mixture will become lighter in color and more aerated.
Transfer cake batter to the prepared spring-form pan. Level batter and bake for 25-30 minutes. Pull it out when the top is firm but just before it cracks. This cake can crack easily because eggs are the leavening agent.
Let cake cool for 30 minutes and prepare glaze in that time.
In a medium saucepan, scald the cream and turn off the heat. Add the chocolate chips and whisk until fully melted. Add the red wine and allow the glaze to cool to room temperature.
Pour glaze in the center of the cake and spread across the top, leaving the edges uncovered. Separate the rose petals, preserving the center core. Scatter petals around the perimeter of the cake, placing the core in the center. Use a fine sifter to dust the rose petals and cake edges with powder sugar.
This is an intensely chocolaty cake, and it is best enjoyed with slightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries.