Our favorite ooey, gooey holiday dessert gets an upgrade with Cheerwine!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups Cheerwine
- 7 ounces dates
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 whole eggs
For the sauce:
- ½ cup Cheerwine
- 1 ⅓ cups heavy cream
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
To make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Spray bottom and sides of an 8” cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Place Cheerwine and dates into a small saucepan and cook on medium-low heat until the dates are very soft and the liquid has been reduced by half.
While the dates and Cheerwine are cooking, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Put the dates and Cheerwine cooking liquid into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time. Beat until fluffy.
Add pureed dates and mix on low speed until combined.
Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.
Scrape into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
To make the sauce and finish dessert:
Place all sauce ingredients in medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
Remove cake from oven and poke all over with a paring knife, leaving the cake in the pan.
Pour two-thirds of the sauce over the cake. You may have to do this a bit at a time to let the cake absorb the sauce before adding more.
Let the cake cool 15 minutes in the pan, then carefully invert onto a serving plate.
Slice and serve with extra sauce and whipped cream or ice cream.
