I’m Back!
Hello, and welcome back to Olives & Lamb! It’s been a while since I’ve last posted, and it feels good to be back especially with these Red Wine Chocolate Donuts. I decided to take a step back from posting for multiple reasons. Your girl did not feel motivated to create any recipes. I felt overwhelmed with having to work on my blog along with other projects I was starting at the time. Then I also wanted to focus my attention to building my life in LA since most things reopened. I wanted to experience so many things and create new relationships, so I gave myself the freedom to take a step back and return when I felt inspired. So here I am!
I also decided to change my instagram to @byolivialam_ because I felt like having to manage two separate accounts — one for my blog and one for my styling — would be too much for me to handle. And I’ve also been wanting to give everyone a better look into my life and work as a food stylist. So Olives & Lamb the blog still very much exists, but I’m coming back to instagram as @byolivialam_! Now let’s get on to these Red Wine Chocolate Donuts!
Calling All Chocoholics
I figured I’d come back with one of the foods I love most — donuts. If you know me, you know I love donuts. Fun fact: my favorite donut shop in Southern California is Sidecar Donuts. They have the best quality donuts with such fun flavors and they’re made fresh throughout the day. So if you’re ever looking for donuts, you need to try Sidecar Donuts. Anyway, todays recipe is for Red Wine Chocolate Donuts with a Whipped Cream Cheese Chocolate Ganache. I’ll admit, they’re no Sidecar Donuts, but they are some pretty freaking delicious donuts.
These Red Wine Donuts are for all the chocolate lovers out there because this recipe is chocolate overload — in the most tasteful way possible. We have a chocolate batter made with red wine that’s baked in the oven until perfectly moist. Then chocolate and heavy cream are combined to create a ganache, which is whipped together with cream cheese. And of course, the red wine donuts are topped with the whipped cream cheese ganache.
Not Too Sweet
The red wine in the batter gives the donuts a deep and complex chocolate flavor. Some chocolate cake recipes used coffee in the batter because it enhances and deepens the chocolate flavor. In this recipe, the red wine essentially does the same. The cream cheese gives the whipped ganache a slight tangy flavor, to cut out the sweetness.
If you’re familiar with the asian culture or are asian, you know that the ultimate dessert preference is “not too sweet.” American desserts can sometimes be overwhelmingly sweet, and I feel like most asian desserts fall into more of a subtle, mellow sweetness category. So when something is “not too sweet” to someone of an asian ethnicity, you know it’s top notch.
As complex and chocolatey as these Red Wine Donuts sound, they’re perfectly “not too sweet.” The bitterness and acidity of the red wine in the donuts cuts the sweetness. Then the tanginess and bitterness from the cream cheese and bittersweet chocolate also provide the perfect balance to the sweetness. So if you like dark chocolate, these red Wine Donuts are right up your alley! While these donuts are not sickeningly sweet, they are definitely indulgent!
Thanks for Joining Me!
Please let me know if you try these Red Wine Chocolate Donuts with a Whipped Cream Cheese Chocolate Ganache out! Don’t forget to leave your comments below or on my Instagram, I appreciate all the feedback I receive. And if you’ve been with me since the beginning, thanks so much for sticking around this whole time. It’s good to be back and I’ll see you next time with another recipe!
Red Wine Chocolate Donuts with a Whipped Cream Cheese Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
For the Red Wine Chocolate Donuts
- 1 2/3 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1/4 cup Sour Cream
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 3/4 cup Red Wine
For the Whipped Cream Cheese Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cup Chopped Bittersweet or Dark Chocolate
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- 4 oz. Cream Cheese (at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 tsp. Kosher Salt
Instructions
For the Red Wine Chocolate Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Spray the donut pans with cooking spray and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, add in the all purpose flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and red wine until well combined. Pour this mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Fill the donut pans with the batter 3/4 of the way. Bake them in the oven for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer the donuts to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the Whipped Cream Cheese Chocolate Ganache
- Place the bittersweet or dark chocolate into a bowl. Add the heavy cream into a small sauce pot and heat it over medium heat until it just starts to bubble. Pour the heated heavy cream over the chocolate. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes so that chocolate starts to melt.
- Then mix until combined and all of the chocolate has melted. Place the bowl into the fridge to cool and thicken for about 30-40 minutes, mixing every 10 minutes. The ganache should have thickened significantly into a thick paste consistency.
- Transfer the ganache to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed for about 1 minute until the ganache is whipped and fluffy and no longer stiff. Then mix in the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract on high speed until combined. Frost the cooled donuts with the whipped cream cheese ganache and enjoy!
