By Sienna Serrao
You just finished your delightful Ribeye steak dinner paired with a magnificent glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, but you’re not quite full, with a sweet tooth setting in. After the challenge of deciding whether you want chocolate or vanilla cake, you have to decide which wine you will accompany the dessert with. What do you choose? If you’re unsure, let us help!
Have you ever wondered which cake and wine pairings go best together?
This quick guide to wine and cake pairings is a great way to discover which flavors of wine bring out the best in the cake and vise versa. You can even experiment on your own at home!
Since we all have been staying home more than usual, baking has become increasingly trendy with people baking their own bread, pastries, and desserts including our favorite, cake! And what’s better than a freshly baked cake...a freshly baked cake AND wine.
Believe it or not, these two amazing creations might not taste the best if paired improperly. But we have guidelines for you to follow in order for these separately delicious items to taste even more marvelous together.
Now that restaurants are beginning to reopen as well, you can apply this fun guide and dive into the perfect wine and cake pairing you have waited so many months to able to order at your favorite restaurants.
So, where do you start when pairing wine with cake?
Matching the cake's sweetness with the boldness of a wine is the best place to start! Ultimately, when you pair a dense, rich cake flavor with a light-bodied wine; it can overshadow the flavor of the wine, leaving it well below its full potential. Just as pairing a light a fluffy cake with a robust red wine, can dominate your palate and make the cake seem almost flavorless.
The golden rule to follow is: the flavor intensity of the wine and cake should be matched!
Since there are many ways to go right when paring wine and cake, there are also some ways to go wrong. Sure, a sugar bomb dessert might taste good on its own, but you wouldn’t want to wash it down with an equally sugary wine. That can cause your taste buds to become overwhelmed and may even give you a stomach ache.
To prevent this, we want to match your wine and dessert based on the strength of flavors. For example, you’ll find our guide has us starting off on the lighter side with a soft vanilla cake paired with a light-bodied Riesling wine, then moves down the line until we reach the richest of chocolate cakes, which should be paired with a bigger, bold, Bordeaux blend (red blend).
See the guide below to see which key flavors of the wine are best to pick up on when choosing the best cake to pair it with. Go ahead and order from the bakery down the street or try your hand at a few of your own cakes and cupcakes to pair with a variety of wines.
Best Wine and Cake Pairings
Vanilla cake = RieslingFruit forward and can be slightly sweet, Riesling brings out the vanilla flavors of this cake perfectly. Both are light enough that they won't over power the other.
Strawberry Cake - Champagne or Sparkling Wine
Do you ever wonder why Champagne and strawberries is a favorite pairing? The bubbles in this wine counteract the sweetness of the strawberry beautifully, making this the best match.
Red Velvet Cake = Pinot Noir
Fruit forward Pinots bring out the rich undertones of this cake style. Even with the diverse styles of Pinot Noir, they all seem to pair exquisitely with this royal cake.
Chocolate Cake = Bordeaux Blend
Chocolate helps bring out the earthy flavors that a Bordeaux or Red Blends offer. The deluxe and richness of most chocolate cakes needs something equally as decadent. These bolder red wines will cut through the sweetness and add that extra something special.
You can even make a fun tasting party out of it for you and your quarantine buddies! Get everything set up, and see which wines from your next wine club shipment pair best with your cake creations. Can’t wait that long? You can also purchase individual wines or some of our pre-selected combo cases from our online Wine Store and have the ultimate wine and cake tasting delivered right to your door!