The Best Wine Pairing To Elevate The Bold Flavors Of Gingerbread Cake

Our favorite holiday dishes are filled with rich, warming spices, and nothing quite encapsulates that more than gingerbread cake. The treat is nutty, sweet, and filled with depth, making it the perfect cozy dessert for a cold night. To discover an equally cozy beverage to pair with it, we spoke to an expert about the best wine for gingerbread cake.

A slice of gingerbread cake is dense and has a soft, spicy flavor from the ginger, as well as other staples. Though you may wash it down with some homemade hot chocolate or a latte, a glass of wine is the perfect boozy accompaniment. The best choice is something bold that can stand up to gingerbread cake, and Camille Parson Goldstein, co-founder and managing partner of Muddling Memories, a hospitality company specializing in beverage experiences, has just the one in mind: "Malbec," she recommends. "The tobacco, leather, and dark fruit will complement the ginger and spice nicely."

The full-bodied red has a rich, velvety taste that holds its own against gingerbread cake. As Parson Goldstein mentioned, the tobacco and leather notes pair well with the treat, infusing it with a slightly smoky taste with each sip. Though malbec is a little on the drier side, the jammy plum, blackberry, pomegranate, and raspberry that make up the wine's other flavors offer a dark, fruity flair that pairs beautifully with the baking spices. The wine also has notes of dark chocolate, mocha, and oak, providing the cake with a woodsy depth.

To really take your gingerbread cake to the next level, add in ingredients that mirror the flavors and aromas of malbec. Just as the heady wine gets a zesty, fruity spin from various fruits, the gingery dessert can benefit from it, as well. 

Add a few blueberries into the batter of a gingerbread white chocolate snack cake. The dense cake is softened by white chocolate powder and chips, whose buttery taste works well with the bright, punchy flavor of blueberries. Overall, the treat is peppery and hearty, with a smooth, fruity flavor that complements malbec well.

For a dessert more in line with the holiday spirit, add dried cranberries to the treat, instead. Gingerbread cake is filled to the brim with warm, enveloping spices, so it never hurts to balance them out with a bit of tang. The acidity from the cranberries brings a quick hit of sourness that makes you appreciate the fiery ginger even more.

If it's the vino that you want to revamp, wine and sweetened condensed milk are an unrivaled cocktail pairing you should try. The woodsy dark chocolate and coffee notes in malbec get a creamy touch with the addition of condensed milk. Since the wine is dry, the milk won't make the duo sickeningly sweet. Instead, you'll have a creamy, fruit-tinged drink that pairs nicely with a slice of gingerbread cake.