Cake is delicious. Wine is delicious. So how about cake and wine? And how can you choose a wine that will complement your cake to perfection?
Alice Feiring, wine expert, author and award winner specializing in natural wines, has chosen some perfect combinations for the ultimate guilty pleasure. Enjoy!
1. Cheesecake & Aromatic wine
Aromatic wines can stand up to dense cheesecakes without being dense itself.
- Recommended wine: Domaine Pierre Frick Gewurztraminer Steinert, Grand Cru
2. Coconut Cake & Sparkling, white desert wine
The gentle sweetness of a sparkling desert wine pairs up with the delicate not-so-sweet coconut cake.
- Recommended wine: Cantina Bera Moscato d’Asti
3. Flourless Chocolate Cake & Oxidized, fortified wine
Fortified wines that have been exposed to heat and air develop a complex muted, caramel-like saltiness, which echo the flourless chocolate cake’s savory ground nuts.
- Recommended wine: Barbeito Boal Madeira
4. Carrot Cake & Ice cider
Carrot cake has strong sweet and creamy elements. A good iced cider can slice right through it.
- Recommended wine: Eden Ice Cider
5. Chunky Apple Cake & Off-dry sparkling wine
Off-dry sparkling wines with a hint of apple matched with an apple cake make for a gorgeous apple-y delight.
- Recommended wine: Domaine Huet demi-sec
6. Pineapple Upside-down Cake & Sweet white wine
The tropical flavor from the grape, petit manseng, especially from the Jurançon, marries the syrupy fruit. Its extreme acidity keeps the match fresh.
- Recommended wine: Camin Larredya “Au Capceu” Jurançon Moelleux
7. Cardamon Cake & Pear Cider
Pears and cardamom so often show up in recipes as they accent each other so well. Try sipping some delicious pear along with a cardamom cake.
- Recommended wine: Eric Bordelet Poire Authentique
8. Olive Oil Cake & Sparking white wine
The aromatic, lightness of a sparkling wine matches the dense olive oil without being overpowering.
- Recommended wine: La Stoppa Malvasia Dolce Frizzante
9. Orange Chocolate Cake & Dry amber wine
The juicy, slightly tannic wine supports the strong cake flavors without undoing the power of the chocolate orange.
- Recommended wine: Pheasant's Tears Rkatsitelli
10. Lemon Poppy Cake & Apple mint vermouth
The bitter from the vermouth accents the almost fruity snap of the poppy seed.
- Recommended wine: Uncouth Vermouth Apple Mint
11. Strawberry Shortcake & Sparking rosé
From gamay and poulsard grapes, the berry fruitiness of this wine echoes the fragrant strawberries in the cake. The match is wonderfully lighthearted and fun.
- Recommended wine: Domaine Renardat-Fâche Bugey Cerdon
12. Savory Cheese and Chive Cake & Red wine (Carignan - Grenache - Syrah Wine)
Deep red wines are a great match to the sharp cheese in this cake, because they have this ability to synergize the saltiness into sweet accents.
- Recommended wine: Domaine Léon Barral Jadis Faugères
So there you have it; 12 perfect cake and wine combos. All that’s left to do is get testing them for yourself
For more tips on how to choose the perfect wine, go to www.Amara.com/US/luxpad/cake-wine-pairings/
Marilyn is a freelance writer and digital nomad currently living in rainy yet wonderful London. She writes (and reads!) about personal growth, productivity in the workplace, self improvement, and the importance of work/life balance and how to achieve it.