While everybody and their mother is in a full-on pumpkin mood, we’re one step ahead and already thinking about Christmas because Christmas is less than half a year away. Fall? Halloween? We don’t know her. Mulled wine, or Glühwein over here in Germany, is a certainty during winter and Christmas. Mulled wine is a sugary, hot wine beverage, usually enjoyed on crowded Christmas markets, served in a kitschy cup (that you’ll get for a 10 Euro deposit and your firstborn) to wash down all the deep-fried Christmas market food.
Star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, and other spices make this drink super comforting. Yes, okay, the alcohol also helps a bit.
But here’s the thing: we’re both not the biggest mulled wine fans. It’s too sweet and we’re not too fond of sweet drinks. But you know what’s also sweet? Cake! And we do love cake!
So here’s our spiced mulled wine cake with brown butter frosting. The only proper way to describe this cake is everybody’s favorite word: Moist. It is also super flavorful, juicy, complex, and even cozy, if a cake can be that. We would make it again just to put our heads on it and nap. Mmmh cake-pillow …
The brown butter frosting perfectly complements the spices in the cake. We kept the frosting as simple as possible to let the spices in the cake shine.
The ingredient list is a bit long, but you should get everything at a regular supermarket:
- 120 g salted Butter
- 80 g powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp milk
- 1 orange, fileted: for garnish, optional but we totally recommend adding some.
- 250 g flour
- 50 g almond flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon: or 1 cinnamon stick
- 150 g red wine: use good wine! Never put wine in the food you wouldn’t drink.
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 star anise
- 5 cardamom pods, cracked
- 5 cloves
- 3 eggs
- 100 g white sugar
- 100 g brown sugar: to make things extra caramelly
- ½ tsp salt: add more salt if you’re using unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
- 75 neutral oil
- 1 orange, zest and juice (ca. 100 g)
- 1 apple, peeled and grated
Some tips for making this mulled wine cake:
Start by preparing the frosting, more specifically, the brown butter. It needs to harden in the fridge. In the meantime, you can prepare and bake the cake. When the cake is cooling after baking, you can prepare the frosting. Place it in a cool place until needed, but avoid putting it back in the fridge for too long. Otherwise, the frosting will get too firm.
Don’t brown the butter for too long, or it will burn. Turn off the heat as soon as the butter starts to brown. The butter will continue browning in the hot pot due to residual heat, so don’t wait too long to turn off the heat.
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls, then slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Don’t overmix the dough, or gluten will form and you’ll get a dense cake.
Mulled Wine Cake
Ingredients
Frosting:
- 120 g salted Butter
- 80 g powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp milk
- 1 orange fileted (for garnish, optional)
Cake:
- 250 g flour
- 50 g almond flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon or cinnamon stick
- 150 g red wine
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 star anise
- 5 cardamom pods cracked
- 5 cloves
- 3 eggs
- 100 g white sugar
- 100 g brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
- 75 neutral oil
- 1 orange zest and juice (ca. 100 g)
- 1 apple peeled and grated
Instructions
Start by preparing the frosting:
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan and cook until bubbles form. Continue these activities until the butter turns golden and turn off the heat. The butter will continue browning in the hot pot due to residual heat, so don’t wait too long to turn off the heat. Not saying we did. We didn’t. Not at all. Really. Transfer the butter to a bowl and let it chill in the fridge for about 1-2 hours.
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 165℃.
- Mix the flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon in a big bowl. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the wine, peppercorns, star anise, cardamom, and cloves (and, if using a cinnamon stick, add it here) and simmer for 8-10 minutes on medium-low heat. The wine should boil or reduce and get really aromatic from the spices.
- Whisk together the eggs, white and brown sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Once the gunk is very light and fluffy, start streaming in the oil while constantly whisking. Add the orange zest, followed by the juice, and the grated apple. Strain the wine and whisk it into the egg mix. Add in the flour and whisk until just combined and smooth – overmixed batter makes for dense cakes.
- Transfer into a cake mold, and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out dry.
- Allow the cake to cool completely.
Finish the frosting:
- In the meantime, finish the frosting by whisking the brown butter with powdered sugar and a splash of milk until fluffy. Artfully spread the frosting over the cake, and decorate it with orange segments. Eat it. It's moist.
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