Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Raspberry-Akala Sauce

[nverland]

Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Raspberry/Akala Sauce

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (179 grams) firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup (50 grams) white granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
3/4 cup (177 ml) red wine, I use a burgundy
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (133 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (41 grams) Dutch cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

fresh raspberries (optional) and powdered sugar for garnish

Ingredients for raspberry sauce:
2- 12 ounce bags (340 grams) frozen raspberries, thawed, drained and juice reserved
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar, or to taste
4 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons orange flavored liqueur (like Grand Marnier, a small airline bottle)
1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Procedure:
Make the raspberry sauce first. Add enough water to reserved raspberry juice to measure 2 cups. In a saucepan, mix sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in juice and thawed raspberries. Heat to boiling over medium heat. Boil and stir 1 minute. Place a strainer over a bowl. Pour mixture through strainer, pressing with the back of a spoon, to remove seeds; discard seeds. Stir liqueur and lemon juice into mixture. Cover the sauce with plastic wrap, refrigerate until ready to serve.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment, and either butter and lightly flour the parchment and exposed sides of the pan, or spray the interior with a nonstick spray. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and yolk and beat well, then the red wine and vanilla. Don’t worry if the batter looks a little uneven. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together, right over your wet ingredients. Mix until 3/4 combined, then fold the rest together with a rubber spatula. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester (toothpick) inserted into the center comes out clean. The top of the cake should be shiny and smooth, like a puddle of chocolate. Cool in pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, then flip out of pan and cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack. This cake keeps well at room temperature or in the fridge.

For serving, place a generous amount of sauce on each plate. Place one slice of cake in the middle of the sauce. Garnish the cake with fresh raspberries (optional) and dust the top with powdered sugar. Serve with coffee, or brandy. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Note: Left over raspberry sauce (if there is any) can be used over ice cream, raspberry sherbet, or frozen yogurt, or in milkshakes. You can fold it into whipped cream for a topping over fresh fruit. It can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to one week, of freeze up to a year.