First rule of Raspberry Rosé Cake: You must sing the name of this cake in your head to the tune of Prince’s Raspberry Beret as you read this post and bake this cake. If you don’t know what that song is, then what are you doing looking at a cake recipe with booze in it anyway? I’m calling your mom.

If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen me tease this recipe in my stories, oh, about a month ago. Like I start all of my emails, so sorry for the delay! I take a really long time to write a recipe. I really do. Ideas for recipes fly in and out of my brain fast and furious, but the recipe itself takes a lot of time. I don’t send it out unless I absolutely love it. 

For my first go at this cake I used fresh picked raspberries of unusual varieties from my local AMAZING pick-your-own farm, Butternut Farm. The cake was amazing. I tried it again with the standard clamshell pack of raspberries from my local super market. The results were less than stellar and the cake a shade of unfortunate gray. So back to the drawing board I went! At the same time I was also grappling with different techniques for adding the rosé to the cake. The wine flavor needed to be present, but not overpowering. I tried adding it directly, cooking it down separately, and then finally settled on cooking the wine down with the fruit. As for the color of the cake, I did end up adding a few drops of pink gel coloring to the batter to enhance the pink-ness of the cake. It’s not at all necessary, but raspberries do tend to gray a bit when pureed and baked. No coloring was added to the buttercream. 

Once I had the Raspberry Rosé Cake recipe down, I wondered if it could morph into another one of my “Any Recipes”. What’s an Any Recipe? That’s something you’ll learn when you read through my new book, Erin Bakes Cake. 😉 I don’t have one recipe for pumpkin spice cake, another for strawberry cake, another for banana cake, and so on. I have one Any Fruit Cake recipe that works with a number of different fruit purees. Same goes for my Any Butter (nut butter, not the kind from a cow), Any Pound, Any Veggie (hello carrot, zucchini, and sweet potato!), and more. Tons more. 527 recipe variations to be exact. Swap out the type of wine and variety of fruit and this Raspberry Rosé Cake quickly becomes Peach Pinot Grigio Cake or Blackberry Cabernet Cake. I’m confident there are many more fruit and wine combinations that would work with this recipe. If you give one a go, please let me know! I’d love to share your cake success. 

Of course, after the cake and buttercreams were perfect, I had to decorate it! I need to figure out what to call this. Sprinkle medallions? Wacky nonpareils? I’m not all that sure yet, but I’ll figure it out before posting the tutorial next week. For now, let’s bake! 

Raspberry Rosé Cake

2017-08-18 18:04:52

Serves 6

Safely enjoy Rosé all day with this decidedly adult Raspberry Rosé Cake. Flavor variations include Blackberry Cabernet Cake and Peach Pinot Grigio Cake.

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Wine and Fruit Puree

1. 10 oz raspberries, thaw first if using frozen
2. 2 cups Rosé wine

Cake

1. Two 6" round cake pans
2. 2 1/2 cups cake flour, extra or AP flour for dusting pans
3. 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
4. 1/4 tsp baking soda
5. 3/4 tsp kosher salt
6. 6 large egg yolks
7. 3/4 cup granulated sugar
8. 5 oz unsalted butter, melted
9. 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
10. 2 tsp vanilla extract
11. 1/2 cup fruit and wine puree
12. few drops of pink gel food coloring (optional)
13. 3 large egg whites

Buttercream

1. 3/4 cup pasteurized egg whites or 6 large egg whites
2. 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3. 1/2 tsp kosher salt
4. 24 ounces unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
5. 1 1/2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
6. 1/2 cup fruit and wine puree

Fruit and Wine Puree

1. Combine the raspberries and wine in a blender and pulse until no chunks remain. Pour the mixture into a medium sauce pan. Alternatively, combine the raspberries and wine in a medium sauce pan. Use a stick blender to puree the mixture until no chunks remain.
2. Cook the blended mixture over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Turn the mixture down to medium-low heat and simmer until reduced to about 1 cup, 15-20 min.
3. Pour the reduced mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Set the strained puree aside to cool while you work on the cake batter and buttercream.

For the Cake

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Spray the cake pans with a thin coating of pan spray and flour them.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, half of the sugar, melted butter, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, puree, and food coloring if using.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer or and old-fashioned hand and whisk), beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add in the other half of the sugar. Return the mixer to high speed and whip the egg white mixture until still peaks form, another 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
6. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter in three batches. Stir the first batch into the batter to loosen it up, but fold more delicately with the second and third batches. Take care not to deflate the egg whites or overmix the batter.
7. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake, rotating the pans' positions halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean or with a few crumbs clinging to it, 35-40 minutes.
8. Transfer the cakes to a rack to cool in the pans for about 30 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto a flat surface, like plates or a clean countertop. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting, filling, or storing, about an hour.

For the Buttercream

1. In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Heat the mixture in the microwave on high for 1 minute at a time, whisking after each interval, until the sugar has dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. Or, heat the mixture over a double boiler, whisking occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. If you're using fresh egg whites, heat the mixture until it measures 160 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
2. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Beat the egg whites on low speed just until the mixture starts to loosen and foam. Turn the mixer up to high speed and beat the egg whites until the mixture resembles a white, fluffy cloud, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the butter, a few cubes at a time. The mixture will appear curdled, but that's OK. Once all the butter has been added, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the buttercream is smooth, glossy, and light in color, 10-15 minutes.
4. Turn the mixer down to low speed and add in the vanilla extract. Remove 1/3 of the buttercream from the bowl and set it aside for finishing the exterior of the cake.
5. Add the fruit and wine puree to the bowl and turn the mixer up to medium speed. Mix for just a minute or two, until combined and uniform in color.

All Together Now

1. Use a serrated knife to level the domed tops of the cakes. Discard the domes or save them for snacking.
2. Place one of the leveled cakes onto a turn table. Find the center point of the edge of the cake. Place one hand on top of the cake to steady it. Place your serrated knife on the center point and slice the cake in half with a smooth, sawing motion. Use the hand on top of the cake to spin it as you cut. Cut the cake all the way through. Repeat with the second cake.
3. Smear a small dollop of buttercream on the plate or cake stand you'll be building your cake on. Press the bottom half of one of the cakes onto the smear to adhere it to the plate. Top the cake with 1/3 of the fruit and wine buttercream and top with a layer of cake. Repeat with the other 2 layers of cake.
4. Use the vanilla buttercream to ice the exterior of the cake.
5. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator lightly wrapped with plastic wrap for up to three days. Allow stored cake to come to room temperature before serving for ideal flavor and texture.

Flavor Variations

1. Blackberry Cabernet - substitute blackberries for the raspberries and Cabernet wine for the rosé in the wine and fruit puree. Use a few drops of purple gel food coloring instead of pink in the cake batter (optional).
2. Peach Pinot Grigio - substitute chopped peaches for the raspberries and Pinot Grigio wine for the Rosé in the wine and fruit puree. Use a few drops of yellow gel food coloring instead of pink in the cake batter (optional).

By Erin Gardner

Erin Bakes http://erinbakes.com/

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