I still have one cup left of red wine. I’ve done two chocolate recipes, but now I want to see how far red wine will go. I’m taking a risk here. You don’t see red wine in ginger or pumpkin recipes. At least for dessert. I have seen pumpkin braised in red wine and ginger being added to make a sangria. Not in gingerbread. If both ginger and pumpkin are used with red wine, why not this cake? Maybe because they haven’t thought of it yet. I thought of it and I’m going to do it.

I am starting with a recipe for Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake from Taste of Home. It calls for buttermilk as the liquid, which is acidic. I will replace this with the wine. Not only will it swap and acid for an acid, but it removes the dairy as well and provides flavor. I’m also going to use the applesauce trick to lower the fat and calories. It’s a cake, so the recipe is pretty forgiving. The rest is pretty simple.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I replaced the butter with applesauce to reduce the fat and calories
• I replaced the sugar with their sweetener equivalents to reduce the carbs.
• I replaced the buttermilk with red wine to remove the dairy and use up the last of a bottle of wine.
• I replaced the flour with almond and coconut flour to reduce the carbs.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Pumpkin Red Wine Low Carb Gingerbread Cake

Serves 16

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar substitute
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1/3 cup shelled pumpkin seeds, chopped and toasted

1. Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, mix applesauce and brown sugar. Add eggs and mix well Beat in pumpkin, molasses and orange zest (mixture will appear curdled).
2. In a small bowl, combine flours, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and chile pepper. Add to creamed mixture alternately with wine, beating well after each addition. Stir in pumpkin seeds.
3. Pour batter into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 28-32 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with toppings as desired.