Recipe Alert: Lacrima Dolce Flourless Chocolate Cake with Macerated Cherries

Wow your holiday guests with our award-winning, not-your-ordinary dessert wine, Lacrima Dolce. What makes it unique? It’s a late-harvest Merlot bursting with flavors of ripe, juicy cherry capped with a long, silky, chocolate-meets-cinnamon finish.

This Penns Woods Winery favorite is a worthy partner for decadent desserts, so why not whip up a wine-inspired confection that’s heavy on the chocolate? Lacrima Dolce Flourless Chocolate Cake with Macerated Cherries is rich, yet not-too-sweet, and fairly easy to prepare. It pairs beautifully with this dessert wine, a fitting finish to a special meal with family and friends.
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Cheers!

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Lacrima Dolce Flourless Chocolate Cake with Macerated Cherries Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 bottle Lacrima Dolce
• ¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
• ¼ teaspoon plus pinch salt, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pint cherries, pits and stem removed, halved
• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 egg whites
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• whipped cream for topping

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan. Grease the pan and line with the parchment round.
2. In a small pot over medium heat, bring Lacrima Dolce to a simmer and reduce by half, so about 1 cup remains. Chill.
3. In a small bowl, mix together ½ cup of the reduced Lacrima Dolce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, pinch of salt and black pepper. Add the cherries and marinate for at least one hour.
4. To make the cake, place the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate and butter at 15 second intervals, stirring after each round until the chocolate is melted.
5. Pour the melted chocolate and butter into a large mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, vanilla, egg yolks, egg whites and the remaining ½ cup of the reduced Lacrima Dolce to the chocolate. Whisk to combine.
6. Add the cocoa powder to the batter and whisk until smooth.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the middle is set and a thin crust has formed over the top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
8. Portion the cake into slices and serve with the Lacrima Dolce cherries and whipped cream.

​Culinary Content Created by Dish Works
Recipe by Ally Zeitz, Drexel Food Lab
Article by Nina Malone
Photography by Alexandra Whitney