This Mulled Red Wine Cake has all the spicy, cozy flavors of the classic holiday drink!
I did a thing. I made a cake. But it wasn’t just any cake—it was cake batter with wine.
I then gave it a crunchy walnut topping, baked it off, and soaked it in a rum and cabernet sauvignon glaze. It’s boozy, it’s filled with cozy spices, it tastes like all my favorite flavors of the holidays, and it’s completely gluten-free. What is there not to love?
I’ve loved mulled wine ever since I first stumbled upon it in Leavenworth, this adorable Bavarian-style town in Washington State. We used to visit every Christmas before we moved. One year, my husband and I drank it on a horse-drawn carriage ride through the snow, and I swear it was straight out of a Christmas movie. Ever since then, the second the weather even pretends to get cold, I’m breaking out the wine, oranges, cinnamon, and cloves. It just makes sense that these flavors had to find their way into the perfect winter-weather cake.
Give this recipe a try, and you’ll suddenly feel like you’re both a baker and a mixologist. A true holiday hero. And if you happen to serve an extra-large slice to a certain opinionated family member? I support you.
Is This Mulled Red Wine Cake Healthy?
This is the type of food that’s healthy for the soul, but not necessarily something I’d recommend eating every day. While you get some healthy benefits from the walnuts, dried cranberries, and spices, this is a cake at the end of the day. It’s full of fat, sugar, and calories. All the good stuff we love to enjoy during the holidays!
Compared to many other types of traditional cakes, this can certainly be considered a more wholesome option. It’s gluten-free and uses honey and coconut sugar as natural sweeteners rather than refined white sugar. But, it’s still best to enjoy it in moderation.
What Exactly Is Mulled Wine?
Mulled wine is an ancient (literally) drink thought to have originated when the Romans were looking for a way to enjoy something warm in the winter. The solution was to heat red wine steeped with honey, dried fruit, and spices.
Today, mulled wine is a holiday staple, warming people up just as it did for the Romans so many centuries ago. It’s often made with cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and oranges, plus a sweetener like honey or sugar. Some people also enjoy their mulled wine with a splash of rum or brandy—which this recipe pays homage to!
How Do I Store Leftovers?
Keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you want them to last longer than that, store them in the fridge—the cake will stay good for about 1 week. You can also wrap individual slices in plastic and freeze them for up to 3 months
Serving Suggestions
Serve your mulled wine cake with a scoop of Ice Cream With Chocolate And Pomegranate to let those fruity flavors shine. And to round out the rest of your holiday dessert table, consider whipping up some spicy Gingerbread Cake Bars and homemade Eggnog.
Ingredients
For The Cake:
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted, plus additional for greasing the pan
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 6 eggs separated, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 teaspoons orange zest packed
- 7 tablespoons cabernet sauvignon at room temperature
- 3/4 cup tapioca starch 90 grams
- 3/4 cup coconut flour sifted, 66 grams
- 4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Chinese five-spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries chopped
For The Glaze:
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 6 tablespoons cabernet sauvignon
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 whole cloves
- 3 tablespoons good quality rum
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the walnuts on a small baking pan. Cook until golden brown and nutty smelling, about 10-12 minutes. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together the coconut oil and coconut sugar until mixed. Add in the honey, egg yolks (placing the egg whites in a separate large bowl), orange zest, and wine and beat until well combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the tapioca starch, coconut flour, baking soda, five-spice, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Once mixed, stir in the dried cranberries.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat with the mixer until well combined.
- Clean the beaters off well and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes. Fold them into the batter a little at a time until no white streaks remain. You want to be gentle so you don’t deflate the egg whites.
- Generously grease a bundt pan and sprinkle the chopped walnuts evenly over the bottom. Gently spoon the cake batter over top, spreading it out smoothly and evenly.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 34-35 minutes. Once removed from the oven, let it sit for 10 minutes before you begin glazing.
- Once the cake has 10 minutes left in the oven, it’s time to make the glaze. Combine the coconut sugar, wine, butter, cinnamon sticks, and cloves in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking frequently. Once the mixture comes to a boil, cook, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken and coat the back of a spoon, about 6-7 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the rum and orange juice until combined. Let sit while the cake rests for 10 minutes out of the oven.
- Pour the glaze into a measuring cup and remove the cloves and cinnamon sticks (you should have about 8.5 ounces of glaze). Use a long, wooden skewer to poke holes all over the cake. Pour all but 3 ounces of the glaze over top of the cake. If it pools anywhere, just poke some more holes in that spot. Let the cake stand for 10 minutes to absorb the glaze.
- After 10 minutes, gently flip the cake out of the pan. Use a toothpick to poke more holes all over the top of the cake. Using a basing brush, brush the top of the cake with all the remaining glaze.
- Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, up to overnight, so all the glaze gets absorbed.
- When ready to serve, let the cake come to room temperature and then slice.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Info:
Nutrition information are estimates only and may vary based on the specific brands, ingredients, and portion sizes you use. This data is provided for informational purposes only.
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