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February, 2021

cover crops

COVERED IN COLOR

That lush winter carpet of grasses and blooms between California vine rows is not there for looks. It’s a hardworking cover crop, planted in the fall and bursting forth with the first autumn rains. It holds soil in place, provides habitat for beneficial insects and improves soil fertility when tilled in the spring.

Vineyard managers select a cover crop to do what needs doing. Legumes add nitrogen, for example, while mustard inhibits soil-borne pests. Cover cropping is just one of many sustainable techniques that keep California vineyards healthy and an example for growers around the world.

The Pour

Which Wine?

A great dessert calls for a great dessert wine. Fortunately, California has you covered with styles ranging from extra-dry sparkling wine (you read right: “extra dry” implies that the bubbly is a bit sweet) to late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon to port-style wines and sweet Muscats. As a rule of thumb, pair your dessert with a wine that has about the same level of sweetness. With this rich chocolate cake, go deep: a late-harvest white wine, even a late-harvest Zinfandel or Petite Sirah, will have the voluptuous sweetness to match.

Meet the Grapes: Explore more wine pairings


The Recipe

Soft-Centered Chocolate Babycakes with Red Wine Raspberry Sauce

If you can’t imagine Valentine’s Day without chocolate, consider adding these mini-cakes to the menu. Served warm with red wine raspberry sauce, they are almost molten inside, with crunchy edges. The recipe makes four, so you can have one cake apiece with your sweetie and save the other pair for lunch the next day. When cool, they taste like a super-rich brownie.   

Wine suggestion: California late harvest/dessert wine, California sparkling wine

chocolate cakes

Ingredients

Sauce 

  • ½ cup dry red wine 
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar 
  • ½ pint (6 ounces) raspberries 

Cakes 

  • 5 ounces (155 g) unsalted butter 
  • 5 ounces (155 g) bittersweet chocolate (65% to 75% cacao), chopped 
  • 2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee powder 
  • 2 large whole eggs plus 1 egg white 
  • ¾ cup (185 g) granulated sugar 
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract 
  • Pinch sea salt 
  • ½ cup (60 g) sifted all-purpose flour 
  • Confectioner’s sugar for serving 

Whipped cream or ice cream, optional 

Makes 4 servings 

Directions

Prepare the sauce: Put the wine and sugar in a small saucepan and warm over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to 1/3 cup. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate several hours until cold. Set aside 1 dozen raspberries for garnish, then put the remainder in a small food processor or blender. Puree until smooth, then add the chilled red wine syrup and puree again. Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds, pressing firmly with a spatula.  

Prepare the cakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter and flour the insides of four 1-cup (250-ml) ramekins, shaking out excess flour.  

 Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and espresso powder. Let stand until the chocolate melts, then whisk to blend. 

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg white. Add the sugar gradually, whisking well. Add the vanilla and salt. Whisk until the sugar is no longer grainy. Add the chocolate mixture and whisk to blend. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour. 

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared ramekins. They will be about two-thirds full. Set them on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake until the cakes are well risen and mounded on top, with many surface cracks, 30 to 32 minutes. 

Protecting your hands with oven mitts, immediately invert a cake onto an individual dessert plate, then quickly invert onto another dessert plate so that the cake is right side up. Repeat with the remaining cakes. Let cool for 5 minutes. 

Spoon the red wine raspberry sauce around the warm cakes, dividing it evenly. Scatter the reserved raspberries on top of the sauce. Dust the surface of the cakes with confectioner’s sugar.  Serve immediately, with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired. 

Wine Institute is an association of California wineries and affiliated businesses from the beautiful and diverse wine regions throughout the state. Wine Institute works to create an environment where the wine community can flourish and contribute in a positive fashion to our nation, state and local communities. For information please contact communications@wineinstitute.org.