Birthday Cake and Wine Pairings

This Sunday, November 14th, The Wine CEO Podcast turns 1 and I’m so thankful for all of the love and support for the show this past year! To celebrate my first birthday, naturally I needed to do an episode on birthday cake and wine pairings! You can listen to Episode #49 below or keep reading to learn about the best wine pairings for the most popular cake flavors!

Listen Now

As always, if I don’t mention your favorite cake flavor below, feel free to send me an email (sarah@thewineceo.com) or send me a message on Instagram (@thewineceo) and I would be happy to give you a personalized pairing recommendation for your favorite cake flavor!

Vanilla

As a child, I used to think vanilla was boring. But as an adult, it’s become one of my favorites. A vanilla dessert made with real vanilla bean, can be absolutely delicious. Vanilla cake is typically a little creamy and buttery, but still light. Vanilla cake can be paired with champagne, Chardonnay, and a lot of other white wines. But my personal favorite is moscato d’asti. Moscato d’Asti is a light, effervescent white wine from the region of Asti located in Piedmont, Italy. The grape variety is Muscat Blanc, which is called ‘moscato’ in Italian. So Moscato d’Asti literally means Moscato from Asti. This wine is fizzy, but not violently carbonated, so it has a much softer body than most sparkling wines. It’s also typically very low in alcohol ranging around 5.5%-6%, which is about half that of a standard white wine. The last thing that makes Moscato d’Asti such a perfect pairing with vanilla cake is the fact that moscato tends to have flavor notes of vanilla bean. So this wine is truly the perfect compliment to a vanilla cake or cupcake.

Try Ruffino for a really delicious Moscato d’Asti.

Chocolate

I’m just going to say it……I’m a chocoholic. Most nights of the week you’ll find me nursing a glass of wine or popping chocolate chips right out of the bag. So for all of my fellow chocoholics, check out The Wine CEO Podcast Episode #16 for a full guide on Chocolate and Wine Pairings. But for chocolate cakes, I feel like they are lighter and not quite as bold in flavor as a chocolate bar. So for this reason, I would pair a chocolate cake with a medium to full bodied fruity red wine like Merlot. Merlot has delicious notes of chocolate and cherries, so it’s a delicious combo with chocolate cake.

If you listened to my recent episode on Halloween Candy and Wine Pairings (Episode #47), then you know that I also love Lambrusco and Braccetto d’Aqui with chocolates. These lighter, fruity, bubbly red wines from Italy go really well with chocolates and are different from the “typical” chocolate and wine pairings. Lastly, you can also pair chocolate cake with port. Rich, dense chocolate cake like a flourless chocolate torte are an amazing compliment to port. Port is a fortified wine from Portugal that tends to have notes of chocolate and dried cherries.

If you’re looking for a Merlot, try Duckhorn or Sterling Vineyards.
For a Brachetto d’Acqui, Rose Regale is a personal favorite.
Riunite and Boticello are two great sparkling Lambrusco makers.
Taylor Fladgate and Porto Valdouro are 2 delicious labels for Port.

Red Velvet

I always thought that red velvet cake was invented during World War 2 when chocolate was scarce, but in researching this post, I learned that it’s actually been around since the late 1800/early 1900s. Although many people think that red velvet cake is just vanilla cake with red food coloring, it’s actually more like a chocolate cake. Red velvet cake is made with cocoa powder, while chocolate cake is often made with actual chocolate. And for the record, most red velvet cakes are colored with beet root these days instead of red food dyes. But the cocoa powder makes red velvet cake slightly chocolatey while still remaining light and fluffy. Because red velvet isn’t quite as rich as chocolate cake, I would still pair it with a red wine, but something lighter than a merlot. Instead, I would pair red velvet cake with gamay or pinot noir. Gamay is predominately grown in Beaujolais in the south of Burgundy, France. Known for flavors of fresh berries and flowers, it’s a tantalizingly light red wine - perfect for a light cake.

Louis Jadot is a delicious option for Beaujolais.
I’ve recently been loving the tart and acidic pinot noirs of Oregon. Try EzyTgr or Erath for some delicious options.

Strawberry

My sister-in-law’s favorite flavor of cake is strawberry. In my opinion, strawberry cake absolutely has to be paired with a rosè. Most rosè wines will have flavors of fresh raspberry or strawberry, with the fresh floral notes of roses and lilacs. I would recommend rosès made from Pinot Noir or Provence style rosè blends which tend to be lighter, fruity, and floral.

Bertrand Cotes des Rosè and Sonoma Cutrer are some of my personal favorites.

Raspberry Lemon

For raspberry lemon cake and other fruit flavors, I would try a more citrusy wine like a Chablis. Remember that Chablis is Chardonnay from the Chablis region of Burgundy, France. It’s not aged in oak, so it’s zesty and doesn’t have the typical oak notes of butter and vanilla you might find in a California Chardonnay. I also think that anything sweet and tangy, like raspberry and lemon, will pair well with something crisp and refreshing. So a sparkling wine like champagne or prosecco can also be amazing pairings.

For a delicious Chablis, try Joseph Drouhin.
For sparkling wines, check out The Wine CEO Podcast Episode #8.

Funfetti Cake

Speaking of champagne or prosecco, if you could pair the perfect cake flavor with bubbles, what would it be? Funfetti, of course! I don’t know what genius first decided to put sprinkles into cake batter, but they should get a serious prize. Funfetti is such a celebratory cake, so you have to pair it with the celebratory of all celebratory wines - champagne. The light, vanilla notes in the cake pair well with the cream notes in the champagne and the crisp and refreshing bubbly wine will cleanse your palate from the buttery, creamy frosting.

If you’re looking for champagne, I love the flavor and price tag of Piper Heidseick and Tsarine.
If you’re looking to save a bit and prefer a Prosecco, Ruffino and Tesoro della Regina are both solid choices.

Carrot Cake

My dad’s favorite has always been carrot cake, so I am always on the hunt for a delicious new carrot cake recipe. Because carrot cake tends to be spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, it’s a perfect pairing with wines that have apple flavors. I also feel like it needs a crisp, refreshing white wine because of the heavy cream cheese frosting. So my choice is a Riesling, specifically an off-dry or sweet riesling. This pairing is not limited to carrot cake, but can also be used for pumpkin and caramel cakes this time of year.

I’m always a fan of Dr. Loosen Riesling and they did a partnership with Chateau Ste Michelle to make a delicious riesling out of Washington state called ‘Eroica’.
I was also recently impressed with Forge Cellars from New York State. They have a delicious riesling from the Finger Lakes region which is really good.

All Others

And when in doubt, Champagne and sparkling wines are always a great default because they can pretty much pair with almost anything! If you need a quick refresher as we head into the holiday season on what the difference is between Champagne and other sparkling wines, be sure to listen to The Wine CEO Podcast Episode # 8 for a quick overview of holiday bubbles!