Red Wine Chocolate Naked Cake

And the award goes to…

Inspired by Hollywood’s biggest night, this red wine chocolate naked cake definitely brings the glitz and the glam!  When I think Oscar desserts, I think elegant, I think fun and I think red wine.  It’s got to be sweet, a little bold, totally photo ready, and comforting enough that you and your friends cannot wait to dig in while you’re all critiquing the red carpet arrivals like you’re on an episode of Fashion Police!

That’s a tall order, but this cake delivers!  As soon as I baked the chocolate layer cake filled with an entire cup of Cabernet, I knew we were on to something good.  I mean, how could we not be?

The Cabernet enhances the chocolate cake beautifully and is bold enough to stand out, kind of  like a best supporting actor.  It has underlying notes of blackberries and a smooth, velvety quality that just kind of sings when it’s paired with chocolate.  The aroma alone will have you sneaking a bite before it even cools…

The vanilla bean mascarpone filling complements the cake beautifully.  It’s decadent yet light at the same time, and the vanilla bean flavor enhances all the notes floating around in the chocolate cake. It’s one of those put the spoon down and step away from the bowl type of situations if you get my drift.

The most important tip I want to give you about the mascarpone frosting is to make sure it is very stiff when you fill the cake.  It’s like a richer, more luscious whipped cream filling, so you need to make sure it has its act together before building the cake!

I originally planned on frosting the cake generously, but as it started to take shape, I knew it should be a naked cake – something very clean with a striking simplicity to it.  At that time, I also had a saucepan of red wine simmering away, reducing down to shiny gloss, letting me know it was supposed to be the focal point of the cake, adorning the top and drizzling down the sides.

My other big tip on this cake is to make sure you reduce the red wine down to a 1/4 cup, until it’s nice and glossy and syrupy.  After I made it, I had one of those maybe this reduction is too thick moments causing me to make another batch reducing down to 1/3 of a cup instead.  I can now tell you that 1/4 cup is the way to go – always listen to your first instinct!  Definitely not the end of the world, but I found 1/3 of a cup was a bit (like a sliver) too runny – and this is me being super OCD, but that’s how I roll.

You also want to make sure that the reduction is room temp when you drizzle it over the cake so it can drip and go where it may on its own with very little zhushing.

While it’s definitely pretty to look at, just wait until you cut into it – pure heaven!  I hope you guys love this one and don’t forget to share your bakes with me on Instagram and Facebook – I LOVE seeing them!

Thanks so much for reading and happy baking!