Plum and Muscat Wine Cake
This Plum and Muscat Wine Cake is surprisingly more delicious the second day. It is packed with flavors from the plums and the muscat wine.
If you like Muscat wine, you will enjoy my recipe. The original recipe Grape and Muscat Wine Cake is from Ricardo Larrivee of the Food Network in Canada. Mr. Larivee’s recipe is with grapes and tastes very delicious, but I wanted to try something different. So, one day and I ended up with Plum and Muscat Wine Cake.
This was pretty innovative on my part, I might say. Can I tell you also that I like my recipe better than the original? Yes, I do, and shhh… don’t let Mr. Larivee hear you. LOL. I love it when I create something that surprises my family.
Tips and opinion
My Plum and Muscat WIne Cake needs a good Muscat wine to enjoy the full fruity flavors of the plums and the wine. The texture of the cake is still firm because I do not use over ripped plums. The plums are still firm to the touch but still ripe.
For the Muscat wine, I have to say this is where the cake may cost you. To enjoy Muscat Wine, it is necessary to buy the best wine brand. Sorry guys, but this is a must! If you go for something cheap, the taste will not be the same. If you ever soak fruits in alcohol, you will understand.
Many professional chefs and celebrity chefs will always tell you to cook with a wine you will enjoy drinking. It is true! If you don’t like it, don’t cook or bake with it.
Choose a muscat wine that is dark in color if adding plums because that will give it a darker shade. If you are adding white grapes, choose a lighter-colored muscat wine.
What is muscat wine
If you are not familiar with Muscat wine, the Muscat is a variety of grapes widely grown for wine. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. Muscat grapes are produced around the world. The breadth and number of varieties of Muscat suggest that it is perhaps the oldest domesticated grape variety, and there are theories that most families within the grape variety are descended from the Muscat variety. (Wikepedia, 2013)
How to make the cake
The first step is to gather all your ingredients. The butter must be at room temperature as it will need to be softened. For flour, always buy the best brand you can buy. I use King’s Arthur Flour, and I have never had any baking issues with it.
I also use organic sugar and organic eggs by preference. For vanilla extract, either use your recipe or a good brand. And again, an excellent dark-colored muscat wine.
Many cake recipe calls for adding all the ingredients to the bowl at once and mixing. Not this recipe. It is necessary to combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl. Add it to the mixture of butter, sugar, and oil.
The fruits must be folded into the batter. Don’t over mix, and don’t overfold.
Final thoughts
When buying a Muscat wine, you have many choices, white or near black. The darker the wine, the better it will be for this cake. This dessert wine is lovely to savor during any party as long as you leave a piece for yourself, of course, to enjoy later.
Enjoying a piece of a slice of a delicious cake along with ice cream is heaven. LOL….. I am dreaming again! If you are lactose intolerant, you will be happy to know that there is no milk in my Plum and Muscat Wine Cake or even the original recipe of Mr. Larrivee. Lastly, a word of advice!
This wine can be very addictive. So, try not to finish the bottle before adding the required amount to the cake. This is just a reminder if you like an excellent dessert wine.
I hope you enjoy my Plum and Muscat Wine Cake.
Here is the link for Grape and Muscat Wine Cake if you want to compare them. Updated from Grape and Muscat Wine Cake Ricardo Larrivee, Food Network Canada (http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/grape-and-muscat-wine-cake/9337/)
Try both recipes and let me know your opinion. Enjoy!
First post on June 19, 2013. Updated and reposted to add more content.
Plum and Muscat Wine Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup sugar preferably organic
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- zest of an orange or a tangerine
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs slightly beaten
- 1 cup sweet muscat wine dark colored muscat preferably
- 2 cups plums ripe but still firm, cut in small chunks, about 3 large plums
Instructions
- With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 180ºC / 350ºF / Gas Mark 4. Either line the bottom of a 20cm (8″) springform pan with parchment paper and butter or spray the interior of a bundt pan with baking flour spray.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In another bowl and using an electric mixer at medium speed, cream the butter with the sugar, oil, orange/tangerine zest and the vanilla. In a small bowl slightly beat eggs and slowly add to flour mixture, beating until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients, alternating with the wine until well incorporated.
- Using a spatula, fold half the plums into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the remaining plums on top, pressing them lightly into the batter. Bake until a toothpick or a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 70 minutes.
- Let cool slightly. Unmold and finish cooling on a cake rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
