Learn how to make this bright and flavorful Red Wine Sangria Cake!

Red Wine Sangria is a beloved wine cocktail that lends itself easily into a freaking delicious cake recipe! This red wine cake is beyond delicious. It’s made up of soft red wine cake layers infused with orange, soaked with a brandy citrus syrup, filled with a strawberry wine jam and coated in a red wine vanilla buttercream. 

This Red Wine Sangria Cake will please all palates since it’s well balanced with sweet and tart flavors. The red wine isn’t too strong, so it’s easy to enjoy! 

I use a light Pinot Noir because it’s not overwhelming in flavor for non-wine drinkers while being a lighter wine that pairs nicely with bright citrus notes like oranges, lemon, and limes. You can use any red wine you’d prefer, make sure it’s something you would drink and enjoy. You’ll also see that I’ve added a drop of fuschia gel food coloring to turn the cake from a slight grey (which isn’t as appealing) to a deep pink color. Also, the deep pink cake layers look simply beautiful with the bright strawberry wine filling. 

The homemade strawberry wine filling is similar to a country-style jam that you will want to eat by the spoonful. You can use fresh or frozen strawberries to make it any time of year! 

The pleasant surprise of the brandy citrus syrup is the element that completes the sangria. The lemon and lime zest steeps in the brandy citrus syrup which soaks nicely into the cake, giving it a bold flavor.

It’s a bright and vibrant cake with the fresh fruit garnishing the top as well as deep and rich in flavor with a sangria vanilla buttercream. This cake is an exciting way to celebrate summer and all of its beautiful fruit!

The colorful buttercream decoration is frosted with a cool watercolor technique where the two buttercreams come together just enough that they are blended and looks like a painting.

I get a lot of my cake inspiration from classic drinks and cocktails because they are well thought out with the blending of sweet, sour, and salty flavors, which is what I love in a good cake recipe. I’m thinking of writing a whole series of cocktail-inspired cake recipes to share with you. If that sounds like something you would be interested in, let me know in the comments below!

In the meantime, I’m very excited to share this Red Wine Sangria Recipe with you. You can see other drink or cocktail-inspired cake like this one here Margarita Cake, Raspberry Champagne Cake, and Peach Bellini Cake! 

Tips for success: 

• Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.

• In this cake recipe, you need 1/2 cup buttermilk; if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use 1/2 cup whole milk mixed with 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own. 

• You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month. 

• You can make the buttercream a day ahead and refrigerate it overnight. Then take them out to come back to room temperature. Make sure the buttercream is at room temperature before re-whipping.

• A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.

• Be careful not to overmix this cake batter or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. 

• Food coloring gets darker over time, so it’s best to gradually add the food coloring, which is best for pastel colors.  

• Zest oranges, lemons and limes ahead of time then divide into 1 Tablespoon packets wrapped in wax paper. Label a plastic bag filled with 1 TBSP packets of orange, lemon and lime zest and place in the freezer to keep fresh up to 6 months. 

• Since you’ll need more citrus zest then juice you can juice the oranges, lemons, and limes ahead of time and then freeze in containers. This way you’ll always have fresh citrus juice ready to bake with later. Keep up to 6 months. 
• Serve cake at room temperature.

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake: 

• 3, 6-inch cake pans or 2, 8-inch cake pans
• Offset spatula 
• 8-inch or 10-inch white cake board 
• Serrated knife or cake leveler 
• Turntable 
• Cake scraper or bench scraper
• Piping bag (I use silicone reusable bags)
• Whisk or sifter
• Rubber Spatula
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray and Parchment Paper
• Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
• Cake Stand, optional
• Fuschia gel food coloring

 

For tips on how to gain confidence in the kitchen so you can make any cake creation, learn baking techniques and cake decorating skills, I suggest reading more about my Foolproof Cakes for Beginner Bakers eBook.

Here’s how to make this bright and bold Red Wine Sangria Cake!

Let’s Get Baking! 

Red Wine Cake 

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 
3. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
5. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated. 
6. Pour in the buttermilk and add vanilla extract. Add a drop of the fuschia gel food coloring. Mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. 
7. Evenly divide the colored cake batter into three 6-inch cake pans. 
8. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. 
9. Remove cakes from oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely — wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes. 

Strawberry Wine Filling 

1. In a medium saucepan, mix the strawberries and sugar. Continue mixing with a rubber spatula over low-medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the berries begin to boil.
2. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water. Add cornstarch mixture to the boiling berries and continue to stir with a rubber spatula. 
3. Add lemon zest and red wine. Continue cooking the mixture for 2-3 minutes until it is thickened and coats the back of a spatula. 
4. Pour the strawberry filling into a small bowl to cool. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to fully cool. 

Brandy Citrus Syrup

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium heat. Continue to heat for 5 minutes until the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the Brandy or Grand Marnier, lemon and lime zest. Set aside to cool before pouring into a squeeze bottle. 

Red Wine Gel

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together red wine and cornstarch before placing it over medium heat. Begin to boil while stirring with a rubber spatula. Continue to mix until the mixture has become thick and transparent, then add orange zest. Set in the fridge to cool thoroughly. 

Sangria Vanilla Buttercream 

1. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the heavy cream, salt and vanilla extract. Mix until incorporated completely. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
3. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat the buttercream for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles. 
4. Remove all the buttercream from the stand mixer bowl and place it into another mixing bowl. 
5. Add the wine gel into the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the wine gel until it’s broken up into smaller pieces then add 1/3 cup of vanilla buttercream to continue to mix on medium for 2 minutes. 
6. Then add 2/3 cup of vanilla buttercream and add a drop of fuchsia gel food color. Mix for another minute or until all incorporated.  
7. Place the white vanilla buttercream into a piping bag and then place the fuschia red wine buttercream into another piping bag. 

Putting It All Together

1. Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the dome of the cakes to make the layers flat and even. 
2. Add a small amount of vanilla buttercream onto the center of the cake board. Layer the chilled red wine cake, cut side up onto the cake board. Drizzle the brandy citrus syrup over all the cake layers and let them soak before stacking. 
3. Then pipe a thin layer of vanilla buttercream on the cake then use an offset spatula to smooth the layer of buttercream. Pipe a ring of buttercream close to the outside edge of the cake layer.  
4. Add ¼ cup of strawberry wine filling inside the ring of buttercream. Use an offset spatula to smooth out the filling. 
5. Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer — Crumb coat and freeze for 30 minutes.
6. Add a thick layer of white vanilla buttercream to the whole cake. Use the offset spatula to distribute the buttercream. Add more buttercream to fill in any gaps. Then use a cake scraper to make the cake smooth on the top and sides. 
7. Pipe a thin line of the red wine buttercream on the top edge of the cake. Then use the offset spatula to swipe the red wine buttercream into the white vanilla buttercream. Start from the top edge and pull the spatula towards the right side. 
8. Then repeat this process along the top edge of the cake. It will have a fun watercolor effect where the red and white buttercreams barely come together. 
9. Add the slices of orange, lemon, lime, and strawberries halves on top of the cake. Serve and Enjoy! 

You May Also Enjoy: 

• Berries & Cream Champagne Cake (recipe)
• How to Make Perfect Cake Pops (free training)
• Common Baking Mistakes & How to Avoid Them (free ebook)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
• Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)

Not only is this a great anytime cake, but it’s perfect for celebrating the end of summer or your besties birthday or if you want to have a fun mom’s night out. Make this cake to share with the ones you love! 

My goal is to help you become a better and more confident baker, let me know in the comments below what’s your #1 baking and cake decorating problem? 

Happy Baking! 

Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation, so you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/creator-program. I will see you there!

Watch The How-to Video Below: 

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