Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Wine

 You've heard legend of it but perhaps have never been willing to try it.  Just too scary to sacrifice your zucchini bread recipe to the chocolate gods.  Will it be too chocolatey?  Will you still be able to taste the zucchini?  Will the chocolate affect the texture and moistness we all love about a really great zucchini bread?

Well, my friends, you're in for a real treat!  This cake is super duper moist and with the right combination of chocolate and zucchini.  The cinnamon and cloves had amazing depths of flavor.  The wine is so subtle and smooth, definitely an adult cake.  And, it's a very, very pretty cake to boot!

This recipe is based on my Grandma Truitt's recipe, handed down from generation to generation.  I did make a few modifications with, of course, the addition of booze and using a different pan. 

I used Chocolate Wine, which I have seen here and there.  It's a combination of red wine, milk and you guessed it: chocolate.  I received a bottle from my friend, Melanie, for Christmas last year.  It's been in the frig since then...I wasn't really sure how I felt about it until I tried it just before making this cake.  It's very interesting and would make a great cocktail or an after dinner dessert wine.  Think Baileys or Kahlua.  Cream and rich...And, turns out it's also great for baking!

Grandma Truitt was such a warm and loving person...I only knew my grandmothers.  And, Grandma Truitt always gave us a big hug and a kiss whenever we went to see her.  My other grandmother, Bambi, never did that...I don't know why, it just wasn't her style. 

I think Grandma Truitt, who was a great baker, would be very proud of my homage cake for her! 

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Blackberry wine & chocolate olive oil cupcakes

We love to Bake It With Booze, and we love to see what other bakers create. We highly recommend that you go check out The Domestic Rebel's new boozey creation: Blackberry wine & chocolate olive oil cupcakes. 

Sweet <3

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Chocolate and Port Cupcakes




 Hints of cherry, deep chocolate, yet subtly sweet.  Ah, and a bit of ROMANCE you say?   Chocolate and wine seem to be the "go-to" romantic dessert of choice for those of us who have enjoyed the fruit of the grapevine for quite some time.  I first stumbled on this particular food pairing in my mid-20s.  A friend and drinking buddy, among other adventures in our early lives, introduced me.  I wasn't so sure.  One taste of a good dark chocolate and a good Cab, and it was a match not to be trumped for some time.

I made these cupcakes after sampling a port at my brother's house a few weeks ago.  He loves port.  He likes sweet wine.  I like it after dinner sometimes.  Mostly, I drink it when I go to his and my SIL's house.  I used it last year for a really great roast pork tenderloin with fig and port sauce.  Not a BIWB thang, so you're on your own for that one.

I used several recipes, and probably didn't follow any one in particular.  I made these buttermilk chocolate with port cupcakes based on the Sweet Chocolate Port Cupcakes from Cupcake Wars.  I did not include the filling.  I made the port reduction from this same recipe.  The frosting is my old stand-by buttercream, and I used port wine and port reduction in the frosting to substitute for the liquid.  The port reduction added a nice and subtle fruity note to this frosting.  B-E-A-U-TI-FUL color.  My favorite sugar pearls added just that little bit of elegance and savoir faire.