Red Wine Chocolate Cake with a Chocolate Buttercream & Blackberry-Sage Ganache

Hey there! Happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a great start!

If you are looking for the perfect gluten-free dessert to make for Valentine's Day, look no further! This red wine chocolate cake is moist, fluffy, and flavorful! The blackberry-sage ganache adds the perfect finishing touch to this elegant dessert. You will have a hard time believing this cake is free of not only gluten, but grain-free as well! Zuvii Banana Flour gives this cake great texture.

Onto the recipe!

Red Wine Chocolate Cake with a Chocolate Buttercream & Blackberry-Sage Ganache (yield; 5 heart shaped layer cake)

For the cake;

• 1 cup banana flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup semi-sweet red wine
• 2 large eggs
• 2 sticks grass-fed butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• coconut oil, to grease pans
• garnish with chocolate shavings (I used dark chocolate & white chocolate)

For the chocolate buttercream; 

• 1 stick grass-fed butter, softened
• 2 cups organic powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the blackberry-sage ganache;

• 8 ounces hot milk
• 8 ounces 60% dark chocolate infused with blackberry & sage (I used Endangered Species brand chocolate.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 5 small heart shaped pans with coconut oil. Sift together dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Cream together butter and sugar in a stand mixer for about 3-4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time. Beat again. Add in flour blend and red wine. Mix until well combined. Evenly divide batter among cake pans. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Time to make the chocolate buttercream! Whip butter in a stand mixer until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar and continue mixing. Sift in cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.

Let's make the ganache! Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until hot. Pour milk over chocolate and whisk until creamy.

Once the cakes are cooled, it is time to assemble and layer the cakes! Pipe buttercream on each layer, repeating until all five cakes are assembled. Pour ganache over cake and let set for a couple of minutes. Top with shaved chocolate. Enjoy!

-Juliet