Today’s theme is Cooking with Wine. I mean, what’s not to like about that? Food and Wine: It’s the original match made in heaven. So, how about raspberry and muscat cake?
Scholossadler Wines are on board to provide some incredible wines and expertise: my dish should pair rather nicely with their almost-dessert-wine Rheinhessen.
I will bake a cake with wine. It wasn’t the most obvious choice, even for me, but after some jotting down of various wines and possible flavor pairings, it seemed that a sweet, fruity muscat was the place to start. After a brief tasting session (all in the name of research, of course) I decided that raspberries would complement the wine perfectly – the raspberry and muscat cake. With the addition of almonds and a little vanilla essence, my flavor palate was complete.
I was lucky enough to have a whole day to myself, simply to be and do and bake. I passed the morning happily pottering in the kitchen, then in the early afternoon (but at 5 o’clock somewhere), I sat in the sunshine with a slice of raspberry and muscat cake and a glass of wine. It was pure bliss.
The almonds give the cake a nutty and slightly biscuity texture, but it should be soft and springy. The muscat adds a rather pleasing and surprisingly fragrant frisson! This would be perfect for a garden party or afternoon tea on a summer’s day, served with some fresh cream. This is my raspberry and muscat cake recipe!
Raspberry And Muscat Cake
Ingredients
- 4 oz caster sugar
- 4 oz butter
- 8 oz plain flour
- 2 oz ground almonds
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 tbsp muscat
- 1 tbsp milk
- A few drops of vanilla essence
- Fresh raspberries to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180oC.
- Grease and line a small, deep cake tin (one with a springform base is best)
- Cream the sugar and butter together
- Beat in the eggs with a little of the flour
- Fold in the dry ingredients, incorporating lots of air.
- Stir in the muscat, milk and vanilla essence.
- Pour into the tin and place several raspberries on the top.
- Bake for about an hour. Check with a skewer to see that it is cooked all the way through.
- Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
