flipflop Moscato Strawberry Tiramisu

We weren't patient enough to wait until it sat up long enough
and the layers tumbled...but it surely did taste good!!!

I know I've mentioned before that I think flipflop Winery's Moscato is simply Nectar of the Gods...but I'd just cracked open an icy cold, brand new bottle while I sat in my lounger on my steamy hot deck, looking at the bay and the setting sun a couple of nights ago...and feel I simply must expound on this particular vino...again....and really, I'm not sucking up to them.  I am absolutely not obligated to say good things about their wines.  I could say it sucked, it would not be happy for them, but I could. 

However, it would be a lie, I just absolutely love it.  I will say, my husband does not.  He does not like sweet wines and screwed up his face when I asked him to taste it.  So did my friend, Ann.  They are red wine drinkers...they like Merlots and Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.  I, for one, like Moscato, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and Rieslings.  Those are my great loves in the wine world.  I could go the rest of my life without drinking another red.  I feel certain my husband feels the same about my fruity whites (as he calls them).  Opposites attract.  We each get our own bottle. :-)

My first sip of the evening slid down my throat, cooling my insides, while I pressed the cold bottle to my throat (it's been abnormally hot down here).  I had a little bowl of whole strawberries with me and I thought I'd dip them in the wine.  OMG that was good.   Life is good, and made even better by this lusciously affordable wine.  $7?  Really?  Yes, really.  I think vintner, David Georges, has a bit of Dionysus in his bloodline...it's that good.

As I sat cogitating life, the laziness of the coastal evening, the pleasure of the wine, and what I wanted to bake (yep, deep thoughts there), I knew I wanted to create another recipe using this fabulous summer wine.  I'd had tiramisu recently and I started thinking about how I might make something similar...perhaps replacing the coffee, Marsala, or sharp brandy flavors with Moscato and incorporating these sweet berries I was languidly dipping in the crisp yet sweet wine.

I needed some good lady fingers and I knew I'd seen some Italian lady fingers at Zeste in the past, so I decided I would pop in and get some if they were still stocking them.  I love Zeste and don't get there often enough.  I had checked HEB, Wal-Mart, and The Blue Marlin...so Zeste was my last chance....ta da...they had just what I was seeking.  Worth noting - a reminder that Zeste has tapas on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday during the summer.  Yummmmm.... (note October 2013 - Zeste's is now out of business.  A great loss for the island)

Anyway, back to the recipe creation.  There's no zabaglione nor custard in this recipe.  I wanted it light and easy.  Here's the recipe I came up with:

flipflop Moscato Strawberry Tiramisu

Ingredients:

1 package crisp Italian lady fingers (I used Alessi Biscotti Savoiardi - there were 4 individual packets within the big packet)
11/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flipflop Moscato wine, divided - per directions below
1 3/4 pounds of fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
A few pretty strawberries to decorate the dessert
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
2 8 oz. containers Mascarpone cheese,
     removed from fridge one hour before beginning to prepare recipe
2 cups heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste
A small amount of finely grated quality chocolate

Method:

Put hulled and sliced strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of Moscato wine and the raw granulated sugar (turbinado). 

Stir and set aside on the counter top for about 30-45 minutes.

Whip the Mascarpone by hand with a spoonula until fluffy in a bowl large enough to accommodate the whipped cream eventually.

Separately, in a stand mixer, whip the cream and confectioner's sugar and both vanillas until very soft peaks form.
Lighten the Mascarpone with 1/3 of the very lightly whipped cream.  You want it to be loose.
Finish whipping the remaining cream to firm peaks and fold the rest of the whipped cream into the Mascarpone mixture.  Add 2 tablespoons Moscato to the creamed mixture and stir until incorporated.

Place 1 cup of Moscato wine in a shallow bowl and rapidly dip each lady finger in the wine and layer them into bottom of small glass baking dish or small trifle dish - one layer.  Don't dip until ready to place in dish.  I am taking a portion to a friend so I purchased some disposable 8 cup plastic containers so they don't have to think about returning dishes to me and they will be a smaller portion...perhaps not as pretty, but certainly more transportable.  Five of the Alessi lady fingers fit perfectly in the bottom of each of my containers - check with dry lady fingers before dipping so you know how they are going to fit in your container. 

Place them sugar side up after dipping.
Spoon a thin layer of whipped cream and Mascarpone mixture over the lady fingers and gently spread using an offset spatula.

Layer 1/2 of the strawberries over the whipped cream (in my case 1/4 as I was making two smaller portions).

Spread another thin layer of the of the whipped cream and Mascarpone mixture over the strawberries.

Layer another layer of lady fingers, dipped in wine, over the whipped cream mixture (the last layer had 6 lady fingers because my container was wider at the top).

Repeat process ending with whipped cream mixture. 

To summarize, I got 3 layers of lady fingers, 2 layers of strawberries and 5 layers of cream mixture, topping the last batch of lady fingers with just the cream mixture.

Refrigerate to set up and allow the lady fingers to soften before serving.  At least an hour or two.

Decorate the top of the dessert with "pretty" strawberries and more whipped cream if you desire. Dust with finely grated quality chocolate before serving.

I ran out of wine on the very last bit of lady fingers...so I dipped them in the leftover strawberry and Moscato and sugar juice.  Cripes, that was good (I sampled a lady finger dipped to make sure that was okay and I didn't need to open another bottle).  I'm thinking that might have been the ultimate dip for the lady fingers!!!  I drank what was left in the bowl...talk about nectar!  Holy smokes!

What a great summer dessert this is, using my favorite Moscato of all time.  Thanks flipflop wine - you guys have made my summer fun!

I hope my "friend" (yet unknown who that will be) will be so kind as to comment (good or bad) about how they liked this dessert.  It's a very adult dessert - and I've never made it before... but the teen is going to enjoy a piece after dinner tonight.  I doubt there's much more than a couple of tablespoons of wine per serving after all is said and done.  I think it will be okay.

I got a little caught up with this and dinner is delayed.  I had to clean out the fridge to gather enough stuff to make tonight's dinner...I'm sure you'll read about what I ended up with if it is as tasty as it smells in the oven!!!

The teen's very decorated piece - extra whip with chocolate sauce AND grated chocolate!
He ate every single morsel on the plate!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

SHARED WITH:



  Everyday Sisters Blog Hop - Featuring Berries

flipflop Moscato wine - A Review

My new best friends at flipflop Winery have been so kind as to send me some Moscato to savor.  I have let them know that Moscato is my favorite wine...so imagine my happy feet dancing when the doorbell rings and I see a "special delivery" right to my door.

I'm not a wine aficionado...not a reviewer of note...and I bake and cook with wine more than I sip it.  But, hey, when you crack open a bottle to cook with, you must have a glass to sip, right?

I'm a sweet and fruity white wine girl...and flipflop Moscato is a gloriously delightful sipping wine.  It is not overly sweet (to me), like some dessert style wines.  It is smooth and glides down your throat with a sultriness that calls for another sip....and another...and another...and all of the sudden you think "hey, my glass is empty, how did that happen?"

I love all of the flipflop wine labels - but must say the blue label, the color of the sea and sky on a gloriously sunny day, with sand dollars and little grass huts, compliments my coastal lifestyle to a perfect "t".  I have adopted flipflop wines as my "house brand" - and Moscato reigns as the "queen of the island" in my little corner of the world.

Thanks to flipflop Wines...an affordable, outstandingly smooth and crisp all-at-the-same-time wine, it just tickles my flip flops silly.  I'm heading to the beach now...for lunch with a friend and some time under an umbrella lounging.  I'm taking a chilled bottle of Moscato, and I know it will make me a very happy girl!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

MOSCATO TRIFLE DELIGHT

I tried a bottle of flipflop Moscato recently and it was like ambrosia of the Gods. I love to sip Moscato but as usual, these days all things in my brain seem to head towards "hmmmm, wonder what else can I do with this?" when I try something new...imagine that!

I remembered a concoction I used to eat years and years ago (like 30 years ago) with angel food cake and a cream pie filling and coconut sprinkled over it all - it was quite heavenly....and then my brain segued to all the beautiful blackberries in the stores…available for a really reasonable price.  I was a hop skip and a jump away from a new recipe with an old favorite recipe mixed up with blackberries so loved by my family and this incredibly smooth and sweet Moscato.  I really think it’s the best Moscato I’ve ever imbibed!

I started this blog post over a two weeks ago and kept tweaking it and imagining the flavors together...then I finally decided I was making it. I bought a package of luscious blackberries and got a new bottle of Moscato...so here goes!

flipflop Moscato adds a touch of mature elegance to a simple trifle

MOSCATO TRIFLE DELIGHT

Created by Debbi Hook

Ingredients:

1 package fresh blackberries

1 teaspoon orange zest

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 cup flipflop Moscato wine

1 small box of instant French Vanilla pudding - prepared per box directions and chilled

2 cups Whipping Cream
2 tsp pure vanilla bean paste
1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 small Angel Food Cake torn into pieces (store bought is fine - I bought a loaf of angel food cake)

Trifle Dish or Individual Wine Glasses

METHOD:

In small saucepan bring the wine, 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon stick, and orange zest to a low boil and immediately reduce to simmer - simmer until reduced by half. (about 3/4 cup of liquid - takes about 30 minutes). Remove from heat and pour into a small pitcher (I use a measuring cup with a spout) and place pitcher in bowl surrounded by ice to chill for about 30 minutes. (if you don't like to eat zest, you can strain before chilling). Remove cinnamon stick.

Simple syrup ingredients

The syrup is chilling after reduction

Whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla paste just until stiff.

Adding Moscato Syrup and Sweetened Vanilla Whipped Cream to the Pudding

Lighten pudding by mixing 1/2 of whipped cream into prepared chilled pudding.

Reserve 2nd half of whipped cream for later
Stir in 1/4 cup of chilled syrup into pudding - reserve rest of syrup for later.

The pudding lightened up and ready for layering

Cover bottom of trifle dish with 1/3 of pudding mix

Press in 1/2 of torn cake pieces
Sprinkle cake with 1/2 the blackberries and drizzle with 1/2 of the remaining syrup
Cover berries with second third of pudding mix
Press in last 1/2 of torn cake pieces
Sprinkle cake with second half of the berries, reserving a few for later.
Drizzle with the remaining syrup
Cover fruit with final amount of pudding and smooth over top.
Spread rest of whipped cream over top of pudding and decorate with the reserved blackberries mounded in the center of the whipped cream.

If you decide to create individual desserts in a wine glass - apportion accordingly. That's what I decided to do.

A Moscato syrup added to the custard and drizzled over the cake - yummilicious!

What a simple yet elegant dessert with the hint of wine in the background.  I would happily serve this at a dinner party or take it to a barbecue in a simple trifle dish.  The vanilla bean paste imparts a nice look to both the lightened pudding and the whipped cream topping.  The syrup is absolutely decadent tasting…just the hint of cinnamon and orange are a perfect complement to the sweet Moscato reduction.  I didn’t think anything could top the flipflop Riesling syrup I made…but this almost blows it away. 

I could picture making a cordial out of this syrup with some unflavored gelatin and some whipped cream on top…wouldn’t that be a kicked up adult kind of Jello?!?  I might have to try that!

I am really enjoying using the flipflop wines in recipes...I can't ask for a better addition to my flippity floppin’ world!  AND at such a reasonable price…if you can find it, you should lay in a supply.  You are going to want this on your summer table!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

SHARED WITH:

THE COOK'S RIESLING COCKTAIL

You know that flipflop Riesling Syrup I made the other day?  The one that you chill and pour over the Riesling Citrus Cake?  Well, OMG!  I stuck my (impeccably clean) finger in it to see what it tasted like before pouring it all over the cake...AWESOME flavor!

Bells went off in my head... I needed to create a cocktail including this deliciosity :-)  So, I stole a tablespoon from the recipe, added about the same amount of lemon syrup I had left over from another recipe, added a couple of ice cubes, filled 2/3 of the wine glass with flipflop Riesling, and topped of the glass with Club Soda and stirred briskly.  Sip, sip...glug, glug~!

Holy Smokes Batman!!!  That's a good drink :-)  Sweetly girly I suppose...but I bet that becomes my new summer's night drink. 

I then decided I was going to make another batch of the Riesling syrup and keep it on hand - but this time I tweaked the recipe...and oh man, it only got better!  I let this batch cook down more so it was more syrupy...and the flavors were more concentrated.  The flipflop Riesling can stand up to a good reduction...because it is a good wine.  You never want to do reductions with a half-assed wine, because you get a crunky tasting reduction.  Frankly I could eat this syrup with a spoon it is that good.

I can also imagine fresh grilled peach halves...over ice cream...drizzled with this syrup....yummmmm.  Can't wait for peaches to be in season.

Here's the revised syrup recipe ...you should add this to your recipe collection.  It would be a great addition to iced tea, lemonade, or making your own little spritzer on a hot day.  All Moms deserve a little cocktail of their own :-)  This flipflop Riesling is "flippin' wonderful"!!!

The syrup, the wine, the cocktail...and I have my beachbag...ready to go :-)

Flipflop Riesling Citrus Spiced Syrup:

Method:
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan, stir, and bring to simmer - cooking for 20 to 25 minutes.
Strain into small bowl or measuring cup - set aside to cool - refrigerate in airtight container after cooled.

Chilling the syrup after straining is
easy in an ice bath

So, cheers!  What will YOU be drinking on a hot summer's eve?  Me, I'll be "sittin' on the dock of the bay" with my Icy Riesling Cocktail!

CHEERS!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

RIESLING CITRUS CAKE

Sliced strawberries and fresh blackberries topped this delicious cake.
Honeyed yogurt served on the side...in a wine glass!

I found very few recipes for cakes being soaked with a Riesling Syrup in my online search...and I wanted one - I just knew it sounded good.  I've mixed up a couple of ingredients from the few recipes I found, but the primary recipe is one I found on a Fisher & Paykel blog.  It sounded delectable.  Their photography is so pretty that their recipe looks melt-in-your mouth delicious.  It also appears to be Gluten Free for those who are looking for sweets made GF.  This cake reminds me, in texture, of a British "pudding" so it is fitting that I am watching the DVR'd Royal Wedding as I baked it.

I had a bottle of flipflop Riesling Wine that I just opened and I wanted to use it in a recipe or two...so today I made this wonderful Springtime cake.  A sip for me, a sip for the cake... Cheerio!

RIESLING CITRUS CAKE
Primarily Adapted from Fisher&Paykel "Our Kitchen"

Ingredients:

Syrup:
1/2 cup flipflop Riesling wine
Juice of 2 Oranges **
1 Cinnamon Stick
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/3 cup white sugar

The syrup ingredients
(the oranges were zested before squeezing and obviously the nutmeg was grated!)

Method:
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to simmer - cooking for 20 minutes - until syrupy.

Straining the syrup over a pourable measuring cup worked perfectly

Strain into small bowl or measuring cup - set aside to cool - refrigerate while cake is baking.

Syrup chilling - always pour cold syrup on hot cake OR
hot syrup on cold cake for best absorption

Cake:
4 large eggs - room temperature
1 cup brown sugar - firmly packed
Zest of 2 oranges** (zest the oranges before juicing for syrup - be sure not to get any of the white pith)
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup Canola or other vegetable oil
1/2 cup flipflop Riesling wine
3/4 cup ground cornmeal flour (I ran cornmeal through the food processor to make it more flour-like)
1 teaspoon baking powder (use aluminum-free if you can find it)
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups ground almond meal

Method:

Preheat oven to 320 degrees Fahrenheit
Spray a 9 inch springform pan with baking spray or grease pan with shortening
(I always place foil around the outside of my springform pans when I bake with them on the off chance they leak.  It would have also been easier had I put a round of greased parchment paper in the bottom of the springform pan)

Beat eggs and sugar together until well-incorporated.

Zest of two oranges and one lemon

Add lemon and orange zest ...mix until well-blended.
Gradually add in oil and wine until fully incorporated.

The wet ingredients fully incorporated

In separate bowl, whisk together cornmeal flour, baking powder, cardamom, and ground almond meal. 

The dry ingredients whisked together

Add wet to dry ingredients.  Don't over-blend.  Very wet batter.
Pour into prepared springform pan and place pan in oven.

A very loose batter - ready to go into oven

Bake for 50 minutes.  Remove pan to cooling rack

Cooling on rack

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before releasing pan and placing cake on serving plate.

(OK - I messed up - I DID carefully run a sharp knife around the edge to release the cake from the edge of the springform pan - it was obviously attached.  Then I turned it upside down and then back up onto the serving plate...and part of the top stuck.  All that sticky looking top in the middle was moist <and delicious I might add since I scraped it off the plate and ate it>.  I don't know if it needed more minutes of cooking...didn't seem to be underdone...I guess I could have left it on the bottom of the springform pan OR used a cake spatula - which I do have - to slide between the bottom of the cake and the springform pan bottom and transfer it without flipping it.  It DID make a difference - this breach of the lightly formed crust.  The center absorbed the syrup much more quickly and, as a result, was bordering on soggy.  Refrigeration helped with that.)

Pour cold syrup over hot cake, slowly, allowing to absorb into cake and then pouring more.  I was doubtful that it would absorb all that syrup (1 cup) but it did!  When I make it next time, though, I'm going to try maybe half as much syrup and see how that impacts the crumb.  I'd like it just a wee bit less moist.

Small amount of top damage will be covered by fruit - so no problem...
and you can see that I poured all syrup on and it was totally absorbed!  However,
see consistency note above.  Try not to damage the light crust that forms on top.

Serve with fresh berries and whipped sweet cream or honeyed yogurt if desired.

Yum!

HONEYED YOGURT

Mix 1 cup Greek Yogurt with 2 tablespoons honey, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
Whisk together and serve a dollop on the plate next to the cake.

WHIPPED SWEET CREAM

Mix 1 cup heavy whipping cream with 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste.  Begin whisking or beating with whip attachment in a stand mixer.  When cream begins to thicken sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar over cream and continue beating until firm...don't go too far or you'll have butter!

The confectioner's sugar makes for a stiff whipped cream which holds its shape nicely when piped on the plate or just spooned on in a dollop!

This cake is absolutely delicious.  I don't know what I'm going to do (eat it all myself?) since the teen doesn't care for citrus.  Maybe he'll like it because it's topped with his two favorite berries...we'll see!

My slice was topped with honeyed yogurt - it was absolutely awesome!

BON APPETIT, Y'ALL!!!

SHARED WITH:

PORK TENDERLOIN WITH RED WINE SAUCE

I really enjoy pork tenderloin wrapped in Applewood Smoked Bacon, browned on the stove top and finished in the oven.  You just season the tenderloin with cracked black pepper, wrap bacon around the tenderloin, and secure it with toothpicks.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Brown all sides on the stove top over a high heat in large oven-safe skillet, transfer to oven until it is cooked to your level of doneness.  I'm old school.  I can't eat pork that is not medium well.  I try, and could do it if my eyes were closed...but I just can't eat pink pork with my eyes open!  Anyway, it is easy to prepare and quite tender and delicious. 

I've wanted some sort of sauce to serve with it because I like sauce with meat...barbeque sauce, marinara sauce, cream gravy, brown gravy, Alfredo sauce, and even A-1 sauce or ketchup!  Sauce is good!  I've not found anything that just rang my chimes to go with pork tenderloin though.

I was searching for a wine sauce recipe and stumbled across a pork tenderloin recipe that had a Red Wine Sauce attached to it.  It seemed simple and just like something I would enjoy.  I knew I could use some of the flipflop Pinot Noir that I had opened to make the Red-Red Velvet Cupcakes (and sip on the deck afterwards).  I had enough to make the red wine syrup I wanted to have and just enough left for this recipe.  Perfecto!  I'll only be making 1/2 of this recipe...I doubt the teen will touch it and I'll just have a little.

RED WINE SAUCE

Adapted from Southern Living December 2002 recipe

Ingredients:

1 shallot or 1/2 half small sweet onion, finely minced

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flipflop Pinot Noir

2 cups beef broth

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons corn starch

Method:

Saute shallot or onion in butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Add wine and allow to reduce for 3 minutes. 

Add beef broth and and bring to boil, cook for 5 minutes.

Stir cornstarch into water to make a slurry.  Make sure all lumps are dissolved.  Add to boiling broth mixture, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens (should just take a minute or so - don't walk away).

Remove from heat and spoon over sliced pork tenderloin or serve in a ramekin at the plate.

I served pork tenderloin (minus the bacon) with this delicious sauce...with sides of whole wheat orzo pilaf, green beans and some freshly baked bread.  The teen actually had a ramekin of sauce and I was surprised when I saw him dipping in it repeatedly!  I spooned sauce all over my pork tenderloin and the pairing of the two kicked everything up several notches!  When I tasted the sauce before serving, it was "tasty" but not outstanding.  The pork tenderloin was very yummy by itself.  The two paired together...eye-rolling delicious!!!

You know you are drinking a good wine when it tastes good in the glass AND tastes good when it is reduced to it's true essence.  You can't fake good on a reduction!  Can't wait for flipflop Wines to get to my part of the world...big thanks for the opportunity to sample.  It is some kind of yum!!!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!
 

RED-RED VELVET CUPCAKES

My hubby keeps telling me if I don't stop whining he is going to call the waaambulance...and many of my friends offer me cheese to go with my whine.

So, when I was thinking about recipes with wine...my brain kept going to whine.  It's too bad I'm an occasional whiner...because I tend to dislike whiners.  I want to tell them to put their big girl panties on and deal with it!  Sometimes I have to tell myself just that.

Today, however, I'm not talking whine...I'm talking WINE.  flipflop Wine to be specific.  I've had a nice bottle of their 2009 California Pinot Noir waiting to be sampled for weeks now...but I'm not a big red wine fan (not enough of a fan to open a bottle to drink by myself, although I'll happily drink a glass or two if someone is helping or after using for a recipe) but we didn't drink wine last time my hubby was home so here it sits. 

I ran across a blog from a couple of years ago that pictured some red wine cupcakes...and I thought, hey, I could do that...and I could add some chocolate to make it like a red velvet cupcake - red wine and chocolate can pair well...I'll add some cream cheese frosting...I think it's a "go"!  Worst case scenario, it tastes like crap and I drink the rest of the bottle of wine by myself to drown my sorrows.  Win-win!

I LOVE THESE LABELS...the flip flops, the sail fish...just a great look
for a great product.  You know I had to sample it before using it!!!
Very drinkable...and that comes from a white wine fan :-)

I'm basing this recipe, with a few tweaks, on the recipe I found on the blog Scrumptious Photography.  The blogger posted it back in 2009...so obviously cupcakes with wine in them aren't an original thought....but, since I don't see a lot of them posted, it bears trying.  I also used her beautiful idea of placing the cupcake in a wine glass...I'd like to say it was my idea...so creative...but, it wasn't.  So, anyway, here we go.

RED-RED VELVET CUPCAKES
(Red Wine and Red Velvet...Red-Red)

Ingredients:

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white pastry flour
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs - room temperature
1/3 cup red wine (I used flipflop Wine's Pinot Noir)
1/3 cup buttermilk
Red Food coloring - use enough to make your batter quite red

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cupcake pan with paper liners (12 standard size AND 12 minis OR I estimate 16 standard size cupcakes).

In a stand mixer, mix sugar and vegetable oil to thoroughly combine.  Add eggs, one at a time until incorporated. (it starts to look like batter now) Add vanilla extract. 

the dry goods before whisking together

While it is mixing, in a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients with a whisk. 

all of the ingredients out and ready

Mix red wine and buttermilk together then alternate adding flour mixture and liquids until batter is smooth.  Add red food coloring and beat until thoroughly incorporated.

the wine and the food color and the chocolate make for a deep red color

I use the Wilton unflavored red gel color.  It took about "three toothpicks full"...which means I grabbed as much as I could on the toothpick and quickly plopped into the batter.  That stuff stains so be careful not to plop it on something you don't want it on!

standard cupcakes

mini cupcakes

I used a large cookie dough scoop to evenly distribute the batter between the liners in the standard muffin pan and a small cookie scoop to evenly distribute the batter between the mini muffin cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until top springs back when gently touched, or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with crumbs slightly clinging for the standard size...about 12-13 minutes for the minis.  Cool in pan for a few minutes and then move to cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

hot from the oven

I always like to test one just out of the oven...oh MY they are good!

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 8 ounce brick cream cheese - softened
3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, add confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing completely between cups and add the vanilla at the end. 

Frost cupcakes after completely cooled!

Cupcakes and Wine...who'd a thunk it?

I just ate one of the minis hot out of the oven.  Nice crumb...really tasty...the chocolate is there and I can tell there's something "else"...it's got just a hit of cinnamon...sort of the Mexican chocolate taste...but still something "else"...yee haa...it's a red wine red velvet cupcake that has just a subtle background taste that no one would know what it was if I didn't tell them.  THIS is what they talk about when they say "depths of flavor".  It all tastes good together...but I would challenge anyone to tell me it had red wine it in!  Wow, how come this stuff isn't more prevalent?  I had to dig to find recipes to "tweak".  I'm so thrilled.  Thanks flipflop Wines for such a great addition to my baking arsenal...now my brain is whirring...I'm thinking about a Pinot Noir sweet syrup...with...something?

You'll have to endure my photos...I had fun taking the treats out to the balcony...

Cheers!

Dolphins, Flip Flops, Wine, and the Bay...oh, and cupcakes!
Life's little pleasures!!!

My reward after baking and blogging :-)
Life is good!
(I had to laugh, I was reading the back of the bottle
while sitting on the deck...it said "sweet spice",
"hints of vanilla", "pair with...chocolate chip cookies".
Soooo, I was right on target and it is a perfect match!
My neighbors were jealous as they looked up at the bottle
of wine on my deck table!!!

No relation to food...just a lovely coastal bird...
I love living on the Laguna Madre :-)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!