Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes
I thought I’d accompany this recipe with a little story. This is a story that can be told a thousand different ways but today this story will be told through red wine. Forewarning, this is the beginning of a long and twisted tale that I lived through.
I met a man online dating two years and one day ago, June 10 2018. He lived in Los Angeles on Rose Avenue in Venice. His apartment was like a snapshot out of West Elm or Crate and Barrel. Sleek white dishes, different wine glasses for red and white, a large rustic wooden dining table, linen sheets and duvet cover and an immaculate closet filled with grey James Perse and Marine Layer shirts in every shape and shade.
That first date he took me to MTN and Gjusta and Salt and Straw. If you have never heard of these establishments, MTN and Gjusta are the creation of Travis Lett who also owns Gjelina. These are some of the hippest restaurants in Los Angeles. And I’d always wanted to eat at them. I tried Sake and a California Cabernet for the first time that night. I’d never been a drinker, in fact steered clear because of the alcoholism that runs rampant in my family.
A surprising number of positives resulted from my relationship with this man. One was the revelation of my love for red wine. Not in alcoholic, need for inebriation way but a true appreciation of the complexity. Red wine sung to me, was musical, and magical. And drinking wine with him felt magical. We drank a lot of red wine over the next six months together. Wine tastings and $400 vintage bottles from Napa on his front porch. He bought me a bottle of Sea Smoke Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara for our “five month anniversary” he said. To this day, it’s possibly my favorite wine. He took me to dinners with fixed menus and wine pairings.
If this all sounds too good to be true, it’s because it was.
I found out on his birthday January 28, 2019 that he had flown to Massachusetts to check himself into a psychiatric facility. A facility that his wealthy family friends were paying for at a whopping $60,000 for 6 week stay. At this time he met me, he was planning on taking his own life and had $40,000 from a loan he had applied for, burning a hole in his pockets. The job he told me he had hadn’t existed since he lived in New York 4 years prior. He was married, although separated and had lied to me about a hundred other things. I knew none of this at the time. But it explained a lot. Like how he could afford a $4400 a month apartment and the $500 dinners. Why I had never met any of his friends or family. He even once told me he was on a business trip to New York and sent me fabricated photos and information. When in reality, he was sitting at home on his $3000 couch eating a pint of Salt and Straw.
There is so much more to this story that I plan on telling in short bursts. It feels good to release it. But for now, I leave you with a recipe for red wine cupcakes.
Both to make money and continue learning about and loving wine, I got a job last summer working at Deep Sea Winery here in Santa Barbara. I made this red wine cupcakes with the owner Gillian on Instagram live a few weeks ago and here is the full recipe.
Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
3/4 cup red wine
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.
Mix all dry ingredients together (cocoa, flour, sugars, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon)
In a separate bowl mix all wet ingredients together (eggs, oil, wine). Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisking as you go. Mix until just combined. Pour into cupcake tin and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Top with cream cheese frosting and edible flowers
