Champagne Grape Cake – Sweet, Delicious & Appealing

Champagne grapes are also known as Black Corinth grapes. They are the smallest of all seedless grapes! The sweet and juicy Champagne grapes have absolutely no seed development at all, meaning that they are absolutely seedless all the time.

If you’ve never tried this grape and you see it some day, make the effort to taste them. The thin skin allows the sweet juice to burst in your mouth when you bite them. Champagne grapes are so yummy!

Champagne Grape Cake

Of course you can make a cake using Champagne grapes and I’m going to show you how I do it! So if you’re ready, roll up your sleeves and come in the kitchen to help me.

Wash the grapes under cold running water and let them drain in a colander.

Champagne grapes are very small and because you need a bunch of them, sit down in front of a sunny window and take your time removing the grapes from the vine.

When you’re finished with the grapes, put the sugar in a small bowl and then zest the orange and lemon into the sugar. When you are finished zesting, mix the zest into the sugar and slightly squeeze the zest between the granules to release the oils found in the skin of the fruit.

In another bowl, add the flour and baking powder.

Then measure the salt and add it to the bowl. Mix or sift the dry ingredients together. Set the bowl aside for a minute.

Measure the Greek yogurt. This yogurt is thick and so delicious. Alyssa and I both like it so much better than other yogurts.

In an electric mixing bowl add the sugary zest mixture, Greek yogurt, eggs and vanilla.

Also add the apple sauce and canola oil.

For flavor and moisture, I add a little bit of butter.

So barely melt the butter and make sure it isn’t hot when you add it to all the wet ingredients. If it is hot, you could cook the egg!

Now comes the fun part…Whip it good!!! When the mixture is thoroughly combined, there will be little tiny bubbles all in it.

Add half the dry ingredients and mix it up a little bit.

Then add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix JUST until everything is mixed and wet.

Remove the batter from the electric mixer and gently fold in the grapes and almonds.

After picking ALL the grapes off the tiny little vines, you won’t have any problem being gentle with the folding. The last thing you will want to do is hurt or smoosh the grapes that you spent so much time picking!

Now bake it and wait patiently until the Champagne Grape Cake is done. I used a sharp knife to test for doneness, but you can use a toothpick too.

There are three ways to eat/decorate this Champagne Grape Cake. The first way is the most dramatic and is perfect for after dinner. Cover the cake with rich cream cheese frosting and then completely cover the cake by using hundreds of Champagne grapes stuck half way into the frosting.

Not only is every bite of cake moist and bursting with juicy grapes, but the outside will burst with juicy grapes too.

You have to admit, you can almost taste this cake.

The Champagne Grape Cake tastes even better than it looks and it looks extremely delicious!

I also think that the Champagne Grape Cake is an elegant cake.

It is the kind of dessert you could serve to your mother-in-law or boss to totally impress them with your culinary expertise.

You can also rationalize that since the Champagne Grape Cake is made with fruit and nuts that it must be healthy and fat free. (rolling my eyes)

Believe me, you won’t care how many calories are in this cake.

The little grapes bursting in your mouth will make you completely forget everything about nutrition.

The cream cheese frosting on top with all those round molecules rolling around on your tongue will just add to the party going on in your mouth.

Another way to serve the cake is to leave it completely bare. By leaving off the frosting, the Champagne Grape Cake makes a perfect breakfast treat with a big cup of hot chocolate.

The third way to serve the Champagne Grape Cake is to sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

I think the powdered sugar makes the cake more like a lunch dessert.

The sugar is not as heavy as an frosting, but tastes delicious and looks pretty too.

Needless to say, I love my Champagne Grape Cake. It is sweet, delicious and appealing to all my senses! Would you like to share in the dessert ecstasy? Well get a fork and take a bite! You better hurry because I can’t be trusted with this cake too long.

 
 

Champagne Grape Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon, grated
Zest of 1 orange, grated
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons canola oil minus 1 teaspoon (or 8 teaspoons)
3 tablespoons apple sauce, unsweetened
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups Champagne grapes (or other seedless grapes halved )
1/4 cup chopped/sliced almonds

Directions:

Grease one 9 X 13 inch pan or two 4 X 8 inch loaf pans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix or sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Add sugar and zests in a medium bowl. Rub the lemon pieces between your fingers with the sugar to help release the oils and then set aside. (like I did in my Blueberry Sour Cream Muffin Lemon Surprise recipe)

In an electric mixing bowl add the sugary zest mixture, Greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla, apple sauce and canola oil.

Barely melt the butter and make sure it isn’t hot when you add it to all the wet ingredients.

Thoroughly combine until there are little tiny bubbles all in the batter.

Add half the dry ingredients and mix it up a little bit. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix JUST until everything is mixed and wet. Fold in grapes and almonds until just mixed. Scoop batter into pan and flatten the top.

Bake for 30 minutes (9 X 13 pan)/45 minutes(4 X 8 loaf pans) or until knife or toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake/loaves comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Flip onto a rack and cool completely on rack before frosting, sprinkling with powdered sugar or sealing tightly in container.