For Mother’s Day, I felt guilty that we (the family) were not really able to buy my mother anything especial, so I asked her what I could do for her instead. She said I should make her a fabulous dessert. Since dessert is starting to outstrip fish as my “specialty” I was more than happy to accept. I knew just what to make her too. Modifying an existing recipe I found I essentially wound up with Chocolate Blackberry Wine Cake with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting.
Originally I was just going to use plain old red wine. We already had some unopened red wine in the house and we didn’t have the time/gas to drive all the way to a place like Bev-mo to try and find blackberry wine. When we were at the grocery store my mother decided to check the alcohol section but turned up empty. After that visit, salmon went on sale and Mom decided that was what she really wanted for dinner – salmon grilled on a cedar plank. When we went back the second time Mom showed me the alcohol section and… within seconds I found a bottle! And it was only $6!
Later, while we waited for the cake to cool enough to frost it, my mother poured some of the wine into a glass for herself – and for me. I was very reluctant to drink it. I have tried several different types of alcohol in the past, and while I have no problem offering it to the gods/spirits (and would like to brew my own someday) that stuff is nasty. (FYI: Champagne is the worst.) She talked me into it though, saying it was in honor of all of our female ancestors. The last time I had alcohol was for the ancestors too. So I figured, what the hell. Might as well try. I was shocked! It was… sweet. The biting/burning taste of the alcohol quickly dissipated leaving behind the pleasant taste of sweetened blackberry juice. It was VERY sweet – I later found reviewers on the ‘net complaining about it, but that was the main reason I liked it!
The cake was a smashing success. The blackberry flavor in the cake and the frosting is subtle. The cake itself is very soft and moist. We put a ribbon of just blackberry preserves in the center (instead of blackberry + frosting) and it held beautifully and tastes great!
But the big success to me was discovering an alcohol that doesn’t make me want to retch. And it’s so cheap! I’ve always felt a little guilty offering alcohol to the gods/spirits when I have no idea if it’s even good or not. Now I can pour libations in peace. I’m so shocked to find it at my local grocery store too!
So, yeah. I drink wine now. Wine is cool.
