Crack Cake Recipe….. a rosé wine cake

Crack cake is decadent, addictive and ever so delicious. This is the ultimate box cake mix hack with pudding. In addition wine is added to create sheer edible bliss.

A fluffy rich cake with ribbons of fudginess. Who would have thought that using a vanilla box cake mix, instant pudding, and rosé wine would end up so gloriously?

This recipe is something a little different for me. I tend to make cakes from scratch, especially for the blog.

Yes I am human and have the odd box cake mix in the cupboard for those days I am feeling lazy and craving cake. Hacking box cake mixes is something I don’t do, it is rather American.

Please, my beautiful American readers, don’t take offence. It’s simply not a thing we tend to do down under. I read with interest cookie and cake hacks using cake mixes.

Part of me wonders why? The other part praises these recipes for their creativity and experimentation.

I always felt why go to all the trouble of hacking a packet of cake mix with all those other ingredients? You may as well have created something from scratch.

That was pre pandemic pantry Sara.

While there has been an incredible shortage of flour on Australian supermarket shelves, the odd cake mix can still be found. And instant pudding mix obviously isn’t highly coveted at all.

What is Crack Cake?

Crack cake is a white cake mix hack where you add pudding to the cake mix. The original recipe used a yellow cake mix, I don’t.

In addition to the cake and pudding mix, wine is added. All sounds pretty horrendous, doesn’t it?

The result will leave you gobsmacked. You will end up with a cake that is rather light in texture, with a crunchy caramelised exterior. It also has fudgy pockets of flavour from the buttery wine syrup poured over the top..

Origins of Crack Cake

I have no idea who the original creator of crack cake was. I have delved down that rabbit hole and the earliest recipe I can find on Google is from The Sarcastic Blonde back in 2012.

There are a few recipes floating around the internet. They all use Duncan Hines yellow cake mix, instant vanilla pudding, wine, and other key ingredients.

There is also another version of the cake called wine cake.

Hacking the ingredients

As Duncan Hines isn’t readily available in Australia, and the pudding mix description was simply one packet of pudding mix, I decided to hack the hack.

I pulled a few of the crack cake recipes circling the internet, had a play, tweak, and made it my own. Also creating a recipe that Australian readers would be able to easily make.

I’ve also reduced the amount of sugar added. The original recipes added a ridiculous amount of sugar. Considering you were adding this to premade products already high sugar.

Rose Wine Crack Cake

The original recipes all used white wine. Instead I use a crisp dry rosé. This also adds to the final colour of the cake, deepening the hue. Creating a delicious rose wine cake.

Another little tweak

I also do something that others don’t, I decorate it. A simple sprinkle of snow sugar makes all the difference.

Snow sugar does not melt, like confectioner’s or icing sugar does. This is important as the cake is moist due to the syrup. If you don’t have snow sugar leave the cake plain, or maybe add some edible flowers or a sprinkle of coconut?

Making Crack Cake

I found the recipes gracing the internet lacking the finer details of the cake making process. The success, I believe, of this cake is in the finer details.

Use either hand beaters or a stand mixer, do not beat by hand. Hand beating will result in a denser cake. The idea is to incorporate as much air into the batter as we can. Beat until the batter thickens and ribbons are left by the beaters.

When making the wine syrup, it isn’t just a case of melting the butter and sugar with the wine, then bingo there you go.

Slowly melt the butter and let the sugar dissolve into the wine. Bring the mixture to a slow boil. The butter will froth and bubble to start, it will eventually calm down. The mixture needs to reduce and thicken to create a golden syrup.

Once the cake is out of the oven poke it really well with a skewer. Channel your inner psycho. The cake forms a beautiful crunchy crust, but we need to make a way for the syrup to penetrate and get into the cake.

If you find that the wine syrup is pooling around the centre of your bundt tin you will need to redistribute the syrup. Pick the tin up (careful it will be hot) and tilt the tin to move the syrup to absorb into the top of the cake.

Come on, does this cake really work?

Surprisingly it does. You would think with all the ingredients, especially the pudding, and the added sugar syrup, that you would end up with a stodgy dense cake.

The result could not be further from that description.

Why the name crack cake? After one slice it will be very obvious, you will be going back for slice, after slice, after slice.

Sara xxx

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