Red Wine Sauce

A few months ago I made this Red Wine Chocolate Truffle Cake, which was fantastically delicious, moist and fudgy with just a hint of booze. I swore I'd make it again, and this weekend I did for a friend's birthday. The original recipe came from Angry Cherry, who paired it with a red wine sauce, but when I first made it I chose a cream cheese whipped vanilla topping. It was nice, but I just remember thinking that the cake didn't need it. This time, because I was taking it to a birthday party rather than to work, I tried the Red Wine Sauce. And WOW I am glad I did!

I used the same type of wine as I used in the cake, a Jacob's Creek Shiraz Cabernet, but I think it would work with almost any red wine. It just might come out slightly differently every time!

I altered Angry Cherry's recipe a bit, so here's what I did:

Red Wine Sauce

2 cups red wine

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise, whole

4 whole cloves

1/2 tsp orange extract (the recipe actually calls for 2 x 1 inch slices of orange peel, which I would've preferred to use, but didn't have)

1/2 cup white sugar

Boil the red wine with the cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, and orange until it's reduced by about half. Strain, stir in the sugar, and reduce by roughly another half (until it coats a spoon). Cool and drizzle over the Red Wine Chocolate Cake.

I thought the Red Wine Chocolate Truffle Cake was good before, but with this it was absolutely exceptional! I can't believe I didn't take Angry Cherry's advice and make it before. Just smelling the sauce was a treat. Slightly boozy with scents of cherries and spice...I'm going to dream about it and crave it constantly now!

Surprisingly, there was a bit of sauce left after the birthday party, so I took it back home with me and poured it over some vanilla ice cream for dessert the next day. This was also ridiculously delicious.

This sauce is so good, I'm sure it would go wonderfully on many, many other things. If you're having doubts, don't. Just do it. Make this. Now. I promise you won't regret it.

Cinnabon Cake



I LOVE cinnamon buns. In particular the ones from Cinnabon; huge, ooey, gooey messes of dough and cinnamony sugary goodness and loaded with cream cheese icing. You don't have to tell me how bad they are for me; believe me, I know. Chock full of carbs, butter, and sugar, and a whole meal in itself, a Cinnabon is a treat I rarely get, and feel immensely guilty when I do. But, because it's a rare event, when I get the chance I have one. This probably explains why I had one every single day that I was in Bangkok for a long weekend last fall, and even brought one back with me for breakfast!

So then you say, so why don't you just make them? Cinnamon buns aren't that hard, right? Well, no, probably not, and they have been on my list for quite some time, but they involve yeast, and kneading, and rising, and rolling, and finicky things like that, which combined with the general bad-for-me-ness have prevented me from doing it so far.

Until I saw this cake on Sweet as Sugar Cookies. There, Lisa basically describes how when she saw this cake all the other recipes she was planning to make flew out of her head. The same thing happened to me. I've had things in my head that I've wanted to make for months now, but this just took over. And part of the appeal was that it's so easy!

It begins with a regular old, run o' the mill vanilla cake batter. Then you whip together butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar and swirl it in. This is pretty tricky, because it doesn't "swirl" easily. I kind of just shoved it in and moved it around as best I could. I didn't quite get it as close to the edges as I should have!

Then you bake it, and top it with a basic glaze.

And you eat it while it's still warm!

Next time (and there WILL be a next time) I'll try making cream cheese icing to go on it. WAY easier than cinnamon buns, and just as good!



Cinnabon Cake

3 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 c. milk

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 c. butter, melted

1 c. butter, softened

1 c. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. cinnamon

2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cake, preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 8" round cake pans, lining the bottom with parchment paper.

Blend the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk, eggs, vanilla, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans.

Beat the 1 cup butter with brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon. Continue to beat until fully blended and fluffy (about 3 min.). Using a tablespoon, drop butter mixture onto cake batter. Use a knife to swirl right to the edges and cover with cake batter.

Bake cakes for about 25-30 min. Remove from oven and cool in pans 10 min. Turn cakes out onto serving plates.

For icing, whisk the powdered sugar with 1/4 cup milk (or more as needed for desired consistency) and vanilla. Drizzle over warmed cakes.

Millionaire Shortbread

About a week ago I made Sticky Date Pudding for a friend's birthday. This was topped by caramel sauce, which I had made before but my first attempt this time didn't work out!

I left this on my stovetop, not knowing what to do with it. I couldn't just throw it out, so I finally added a bit more water, and reheated it until it all dissolved. I then followed the usual process, added a bit more brown sugar because I took it off the heat too soon, and presto! Delicous caramel sauce.

The only problem now was that I had no immediate use for it, and no space in my freezer. Most people I know here who live by themselves don't seem to have much in their freezers, but mine always seems to be packed. Right now it's a stuff-everything-in-and-close-the-door-as-fast-as-possible-before-anything-falls-out kind of situation!

That meant I had to do something with it right away. After a bit of searching, I found a recipe for Millionaire Shortbread. When I worked at the coffee shop in Edinburgh this was one of my favourite snacks, despite how sickly sweet and fattening it is! (or maybe because of that....) I had actually kind of forgotten about it, but my memory came back quick!

The only problem was that my caramel sauce is quite runny at room temperature, and I didn't want it spilling out of the slices! I had to find a way to solidify it. I poured a bit on some baking paper and baked it in the oven for a few minutes. It bubbled up like crazy, and when I took it out and let it cool down a bit, the edges had hardened into a delicious, crispy, chewy toffee. Yum.

Problem solved. I followed the Millionaire Shortbread recipe I found on allrecipes.co.uk (The US version is one of the recipe sites I use most often - I didn't know until now there was a UK version!) but used my own caramel sauce. Once I'd baked the shortbread and poured the caramel sauce on, I baked it in the oven for about 10 minutes, so it would harden a bit, then let it cool before I put the chocolate on.

This was not too different from what I remember, but it came out SO ridiculously sweet I immediately wished for a large glass of milk to drink with it. Perhaps if I'd eaten more of the base, it would have counteracted the intense sweetness of the caramel and it would have been better, but much of the base stayed stuck in the pan. It was quite crumbly, so if I make it again, I'll probably use a different recipe for the base.

Not that any of that matters. I took it to work and it disappeared in no time!



Sticky Date Pudding with Caramel Sauce

It seems that I have become known in my circles as "the one who bakes". And, nowadays, more and more, I do. Thus it seems that when someone has a birthday, the cake is up to me! I don't mind too much, because it means I get to hear other people tell me what a good baker I am share my food with other people, and occasionally it opens my eyes to something new.

That's what happened when it was my friend Christine's birthday back in July. I said I'd provide a cake, and asked her what she wanted. She said sticky date pudding. I sat there, staring at her, dumbfounded. I mean, it sounded good, but at that time, I had only barely heard of this dessert, never mind eaten it myself or actually made it. I said I'd give it a try, assuming I could find the dates (remember I live in Hanoi, where most things are available SOMEWHERE, but actually finding them can be a challenge!)

I did find the dates, and my first bite of sticky date pudding was a revelation. How did I not know this existed? I then topped it off with caramel sauce, which was another wondrous discovery. I had no idea that caramel sauce was so easy to make!

Unfortunately, back then I didn't have a blog where I could post about this amazing dessert. Lucky for me, it was Caroline's birthday last week, and considering she's not a big fan of chocolate and can't eat many dairy products, I had the perfect opportunity to make it again!

The first step is to pit and chop the dates, and soak them in hot water for about 20 minutes.

While they're soaking, mix up the batter. Add the dates and their water, and you'll have a fairly runny batter, but as you can see, it bakes up nicely!



This cake is best topped with a caramel sauce. The first time I did it, I was surprised at how easy it was! However, this time, I wasn't so lucky.

If you stir too soon, the sugar just re-crystallizes and you get no caramel. :(

I made myself late for the birthday party, but on my second try I got a smooth, creamy caramel sauce that went deliciously on the cake.

I served it with vanilla ice cream, and the whole thing disappeared within minutes!



Nat and the Birthday girl Caroline about to devour their sticky date pudding!



Sticky Date Pudding

Ingredients (serves 8)

250g pitted dates, chopped

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 cups boiling water

125g butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups Self-Raising Flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base of a 7cm deep, 22cm (base) cake pan. Place dates and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Pour boiling water over it, and allow to stand for 20 minutes. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold through date mixture and flour until well combined. Spoon mixture into prepared cake pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn onto a plate. Make sauce (see below) Pierce pudding all over with a skewer. Pour 1/2 cup of warm sauce over warm pudding. Stand for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges. Serve with remaining sauce.

Caramel Sauce

1/3 c water

1 ½ cups white sugar (or half brown, half white)

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 ¼ cups heavy cream (I only used about 1 cup since that’s all I had, it’s fine)

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

Bring the water, sugar, and butter to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. DO NOT stir the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved in the water. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the caramel has turned golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Carefully pour in a slow, steady stream of cream into the caramel while stirring constantly. The hot caramel will boil vigorously when the cream is added and solidify in areas. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Continue stirring over low heat until the caramel is smooth and creamy, 5 to 10 minutes more. Allow to cool for at least half an hour before using.