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Berry Sangria Cake
For all my sangria lovers - this delicious Berry Sangria cake is covered with berries and infused top to bottom with sangria!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 785kcal
Equipment
- Squeeze bottle (or piping bag or spoon; to add cake drip)
- Wine glass (real glass or a plastic glass if you'd rather; I've used both)
- small piping bag (optional; I piped the frosting I used to hold decorations onto the cake but you could use an offset spatula)
- Wilton icing comb (optional, but I liked the decorative effect that it added)
Ingredients
Berry Sangria Cake layers
- 3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (or 2 sticks room temperature)
- 1 cup egg whites (about 7 eggs, or use egg whites from a carton to avoid wasting the yolks)
- ⅔ cup buttermilk (room temperature)
- ½ cup wine of your choice (I've tried a Garnacha, Pinot Noir, and Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon - no wrong choices!)
- ½ cup Triple Sec
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1-2 small drops dark purple gel food coloring (if desired for deeper purple color; I used Americolor Regal purple)
Berry Sangria Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
- 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons wine
- 1 Tablespoon triple sec
- 1-2 small drops dark purple gel food coloring (if desired – I actually just left the frosting the shade of purple the wine gave it, but if you’re using a lighter wine you may want a deeper color. Up to you!)
Cake drizzle: (Optional but recommended!)
- ½ cup wine
- ½ cup Triple Sec
- 1 juiced lemon
- 1 juiced lime
White chocolate ganache drip
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1-2 drops purple gel food coloring
Decorations
- 3-4 small limes
- 3-4 small lemons
- 1 small package fresh blackberries
- 1 small package fresh raspberries
- 1 orange
Instructions
Berry Sangria Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8 inch round pans with baker's floured spray (or grease and line with parchment rounds).
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until combined. Mix bits of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Pour in egg whites and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix together the buttermilk, wine, and triple sec, and and blend in on a low speed. Add in oil and gel color, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part – I ended up with about 690g in my pans). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
- Bake for 34-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. (Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming. If you try to trim the layers while they’re still warm, they may crumble or break. This is a great time to make your frosting!)
Berry Sangria Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with the wine and triple sec until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add food color if desired, and beat until well combined.
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed/desired). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle.
- Cake drizzle: (Optional - I wanted a bit stronger sangria flavor to the cake layers, so I used a squeeze bottle to infuse each one with a few tablespoons of the cake drizzle above.)
- Spread the layer with frosting, press some of your berries into the frosting, and pipe some frosting around the berries to make sure your next cake layer sticks on top. Add your next cake layer on top, and repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer 😉
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. Place the icing comb on the cake circle against your cake and run the comb around the cake to texture the frosting. Chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes to get the cake cold enough to set the ganache drip.
White chocolate ganache drip
- Place heavy cream and white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on 50% power in 30-second intervals until smooth, stirring in between. Add gel food color and stir until smooth.
- When your ganache has cooled to a moderate temperature – it should feel slightly warm and still be fairly liquid – transfer it to your piping bag or squeeze bottle. Slowly drizzle ganache into your wine glass, and then invert the wine glass onto the cake at whatever angle you like best. Pour or pipe on a few more tablespoons, to create a drizzle away from the glass down the side of the cake.
Decorating
- Pipe on a several small dots of frosting, and add your fruit! I used a couple of orange zest spirals, as well as several sliced/spiraled lemon and limes, and whole and halved blackberries and raspberries around the cake base and over the top!
- Step back and admire your amaaazing cake! Enjoy!
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 785kcal | Carbohydrates: 104g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 37g
Did you make this Berry Sangria Cake?
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Your recipe says to add the oil to the cake batter but there’s nothing listing oil in the ingredients! I’m in the middle of making it now but don’t know what to do.
I added 2 Tablespoons of oil to replace the egg yolks I left out – got it in the instructions but forgot to add it to the ingredients list! ::facepalm:: So sorry, and I’ve updated the recipe!
ALSO thanks for replying to my email, and the cake looks GORGEOUS!!
Hola en el caso de triple sec dice 1/3 c a que de refiere con ña (c)
‘c’ means ‘cups!’ I’ll update the recipe! 🙂