Delicious Chocolate Cake Gems with Chardonnay Caramel Filling

We all have that one friend who is next level with everything they do. Misti is that friend. Talented, smart, beautiful and funny. She is a Mommy who has mastered baking and turned her quarantine hobby into a thriving business. When I asked her to drink with me…I mean, bake with me, she was down. I challenged her to create a chardonnay inspired dessert and the girl delivered the goods. I won’t blab on because you just want the damn recipe. Trust me, this is as delicious as it is beautiful. So let’s just jump right in. Be sure to follow her on instagram @scarlowbakingco and tag us if you give this recipe a try.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake Crumble

• One Cup All Purpose Flour
• One Cup Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Cup Oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Hot Water

Frosting

• 6 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 1/4 Cup Confection Sugar
• 2-3 Tablespoons Heavy Cream or Milk
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Chardonnay Caramel Sauce

• One Cup Chardonnay
• One Cup Sugar
• One Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Cup Water
• Pinch of Salt
• 3/4 Heavy Cream
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Candy Coating

• 32 oz Candy Melts or Pure Chocolate
• 1/2 Teaspoon Oil
• Cake Decorating Dust (optional)

Tools

• 9” Baking Pan
• Standing or Handheld Mixer
• Saucepan
• Silicone Mold for Chocolate Diamond Heart
• Frosting Bag

Directions:

1. Pour a glass of wine and drink it.
   
2. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9” baking pan.
   
3. Make Chocolate Cake Crumble. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk the oil, eggs, and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot water, and whisk everything together until combined. Make sure there are no pockets of dry ingredients hiding.
   
4. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack.
   
5. Make Chardonnay Caramel Sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, reduce Chardonnay to about a half a cup. Add cream and vanilla and keep warm but prevent the mixture from getting hotter than a bare simmer. In a separate larger saucepan with tall sides, add sugar, lemon juice, and water and cook over medium heat until all of the sugar is dissolved. Gently swirl the pan rather than using a spoon to stir. Once it comes to a boil, keep swirling to avoid burning, and cook for about five minute until the color starts to darken. Remove the caramelized sugar from the heat and add in the warmed cream and wine. The caramel will boil and bubble. Once the bubbling subsides, cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add one tablespoon of butter at a time, fully incorporating each tablespoon before adding the next. Once butter is stirred in, remove caramel from heat.
   
6. Make Frosting. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. This isn’t a lot of butter and it will get stuck on the sides of the bowl, so you may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to really help get it creamed. Add confectioners’ sugar, 2 teaspoons of heavy cream/milk, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes until it really comes together. Add another teaspoon of milk/cream if it looks a little too thick.
   
7. Melt Candy. Pour candy melts into a glass bowl and microwave at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir and reheat in 30 second intervals, mixing between until it is smooth.
   
8. Add candy melted candy mixture to a frosting bag and carefully cover your candy mold base with a thin layer, using a small spoon to smooth the base up along the sides of the mold. Place in the refrigerator. Once hard, add a second thin layer of melted candy and again place in refrigerator to harden.
   
9. Crumble the cooled cake into the bowl on top of the frosting. Make sure there are no large lumps. Mix frosting and cake crumbles together until combined. You don’t want the mixture too wet or it becomes sticky and hard to work with.
   
10. Fill candy mold with cake crumble, gently pressing into the mold. Leave a small space along the top of the mold and create a small indention in the center.
    
11. Fill indention with chardonnay caramel sauce.
    
12. Reheat candy melts for 15 seconds and massage frosting bag to break up any clumps. Cover cake crumble. Don’t worry if it gets messy on the sides. Place in refrigerator to harden.
    
13. Remove from candy mold and with a sharp knife, cut off any extra pieces of chocolate from the edges of base.
    
14. Lightly brush with decorating dust. Enjoy your masterpiece!

Special thank you to Misti for her magical recipe. Checkout our Boozy Baking on our reels on Instagram @madrewine and follow @scarlowbakingco for more amazing treats. Don’t forget to signup for our newsletter to get more delicious recipes, exclusive offers and updates on our wine.