Pairings | Cointreau
My top wine pairings with strawberries
I’m sure you’re enjoying a bowlful or two of strawberries at this time of year. But what to drink with them?
The classic pairing of champagne is to my mind too dry unless the champagne is rosé or demi-sec but there are plenty of other possibilities depending on how you serve your berries.
Unsweetened strawberries or served plain with a little sugar
Perfectly ripe berries, especially wild strawberries can be delicious with an off-dry sparkling wine such as Moscato d’Asti, Asti, Extra Dry prosecco or even a sparkling white zinfandel or Australian sparkling rosé like Jacob’s Creek. You could also serve them the French or Italian way macerated in a light red wine such as Beaujolais with a little sugar - a (reasonably) healthy alternative to cream!
Strawberries and cream
The perfect foil for a classic dessert wine such as Sauternes or (more economically) Muscat-de-Beaumes-de-Venise. Alternatively if you don’t want to serve wine you could choose a contrasting but complementary well-chilled fruit juice such as passionfruit or mango.
Light airy strawberry desserts such as mousses, soufflés or gâteaux
Demi-sec or rosé Champagne or similar sparkling wine.
Strawberry tarts or shortcakes
The additional sweetness you get from the pastry or shortbread means your wine needs to be sweeter. Sauternes or similar wines from the Bordeaux region will probably work but I’d be inclined to go for a luscious new world botrytised or late harvest semillon or sauvignon. Sweet wines from the Loire such as Coteaux du Layon can also work well
Strawberries with meringue such as a pavlova, sundae or Eton Mess
Light and airy but typically sweeter than a gateau. A sweet wine with good acidity such as a late harvest or Beerenauslese riesling can be good or try a strawberry or raspberry liqueur topped up with champagne (like a kir royale or strawberry or raspberry bellini)
Strawberry cheesecake
I really enjoy fruit flavoured beers with the rich but slightly savoury flavour of cheesecake and a strawberry beer such as the Belgian Fruli is quite perfect. It would also be a good choice if you served strawberries with mascarpone. (If you can’t get hold of a strawberry beer try a cherry or raspberry-flavoured one)
Strawberries with dark chocolate
If strawberries are served with or dipped in chocolate the chocolate becomes the key element to match. I would choose a sweet vin doux naturel such as a Maury. (You don’t want quite as intense a red fruit flavour as you would look for with a chocolate and cherry dessert)
Strawberries with orange
Strawberries and orange have a surprising affinity but will tend to strip out the fruit flavours in any accompanying dessert wine. Try a frozen shot of Cointreau or a small glass of Pimms No 1 Cup, made slightly stronger than usual.
Strawberry ice creams and sorbets
Matching wine to ice cream can be tricky unless there are other elements to the dessert and you are simply serving a scoop in place of cream. I quite like to serve a chilled liqueur that will pick out the fruit flavours such as a delicate, strawberry-flavoured ratafia di fragola (Carluccio’s used to do a delicious one - I’m not sure if they still do)
Since I first wrote this article a couple of years ago there's a new generation of pink moscatos and other sparkling reds and rosés which would work really well too. See these suggestions in my Guardian column
Image by HomeMaker on Pixabay
The best wine and liqueur pairings for trifle
There’s no doubt about it, trifle is tricky when it comes to drink pairings. If it includes booze already do you serve more on the side? And what kind of booze should that be?
Now that there are so many types of trifle one drink match isn’t going to fit all.
Some trifles are light - custardy and creamy - others much richer and more intense in flavour. Read the recipe carefully before you decide on your wine, liqueur or other drink match - you may find the clue in the ingredients.
Whatever drink you choose I suggest serving it in small glasses or shot glasses as most trifles have some element of alcohol already
A ready-bought trifle with jelly, custard and cream. No booze
A sweet sparkler like a moscato d’Asti would be perfect with this, as I've highlighted in my post of top Christmas wine pairings. Or the inexpensive sweet red Italian sparkling wine Brachetto d’Acqui.
A classic sherry trifle such as this one
Depends how boozy it is but more sherry is obviously an option - though you could try a light cream sherry (like Crofts) rather than a dark one. Orange flavours work well with sherry too so you could try an orangey flavoured sweet wine like a Passito di Pantelleria or an orange liqueur which is also what you might try with an . . .
. . .orangey trifle
If the trifle is already quite intensely flavoured you could create a contrast by serving an ice-cold shot of Cointreau. Or go for a sweet dark sherry or madeira.
A trifle with berries
Work round the berry flavours. For instance a raspberry liqueur with a raspberry trifle or a limoncello as a contrast to this Nigella recipe which includes blackberries and blackcurrant jam. With a strawberry trifle try the delicious, strawberry-scented ratafia di fragola if you can find it. And see also Brachetto d’Acqui, above.
A rhubarb trifle
Provided it doesn’t contain too much booze of its own go for a chilled Sauternes or similar sweet Bordeaux or late harvest sauvignon or semillon. A rhubarb vodka - or a cocktail based on one - would also be good
Chocolate and cherry trifle
I’m not sure I really regard chocolate trifle as a proper trifle but many do. I’d focus on the cherries for the match - a cherry brandy, for example would go well with this Nigella recipe or with Delia’s Cheat’s Chocolate Trifle. Lidl does an inexpensive one - or did last year. If you don’t have any to hand try a young ruby port or, if you prefer a less sweet pairing, a cherry-flavoured beer.
Banana trifle e.g. Delia’s butterscotch and banana trifle
Muscats tend to go well with banana - try an Australian liqueur muscat with this.
You may also find this post 20 Christmas wine pairings to learn by heart useful.
Top image © Matthew J Thomas @fotolia.com.
The best wine and liqueur pairings for a chocolate yule log
A chocolate yule log or ‘buche de Noël has become an increasingly popular dessert at Christmas but what kind of wine should you pair with it?
As usual with chocolate it depends how intense the flavour is and what the log is filled with.
A simple shop-bought log filled with whipped cream or a light buttercream doesn’t need as powerful a wine as a rich home-made one with, say, a chestnut filling.
You may of course feel that a sweet wine is over the top with something that’s already incredibly sweet and that you’d rather have a cup of black coffee or tea with it. But it is Christmas and I suspect most of you probably won’t!
Here’s what I’d suggest:
* For a shop-bought log I’d go for a Brachetto d’Acqui - a sweet, gently fizzy Italian red wine that isn’t too high in alcohol. If you’re serving it with fresh berries you could even serve a sparkling rosé or rosé champagne
* With a slightly richer homemade log with a chocolate cream filling you could try a stronger sweet red wine such as a recioto della Valpolicella, Maury or a black muscat like Elysium. If it’s flled with boozy cherries try a vintage character or late bottled vintage port.
* With a log with orange in the sponge or filling like this chocolate and clementine log try an orange muscat, Passito di Pantelleria, a lovely marmaladey dessert wine from an island off the coast of Sicily or a South African straw wine. Or you could serve an iced shot of Cointreau
* With a rich chocolate and chestnut yule log like this rather delicious-sounding version from Felicity Cloake I’d go for a dark cream sherry or sweet oloroso sherry, sweet madeira or Australian liqueur muscat
* If there are nuts or Nutella on or in your log as in this recipe try a tawny port or, if it includes almonds, a glass of amaretto.
What I personally wouldn’t go for:
Sauternes or similarly citrussy dessert wines - simply because I’d rather have orange flavours than lemony ones with chocolate. Ordinary non-vintage champagne because it’s too dry (though a demi-sec champagne would be fine with lighter recipes) and Asti because it’s a bit too light. But if you disagree go for it!
What other drinks have you enjoyed with a Yule log?
You may also find these other suggestions for what to drink with Christmas desserts useful:
Wine matches for Christmas pudding
Photo © noirchocolate - Fotolia.com
What to drink with cake (updated)
A recent email from a reader asked me to suggest a wine to go with “a triple coconut cake with a tangy pineapple icing served with fresh fruit salsa that has kiwi, strawberry, mandarine oranges, blueberries and fresh pineapple in it”.
Quite a challenge (I suggested demi-sec Champagne or a peach-flavoured liqueur topped up with fizz) but it got me thinking that there are many possible pairings for cake beyond a cup of tea or coffee, particularly if you’re serving it as a dessert.
Drink Pairings for Popular Cakes
Here are my latest thoughts on what to drink with cake. Bear in mind the overall sweetness richness and density of the cake and whether there are any accompanying ingredients such as fruit or cream when you’re choosing between the options.
Plain madeira, pound cakes or almond cakes
A high quality tea like Darjeeling, a chilled 10 year old tawny port, a cream sherry or a spiced rum like Morgan’s or Sailor Jerry would be my top picks. Panettone is better with Prosecco or a Moscato d’Asti.
Orange flavoured cakes
Particularly delicious with sweet sherries. You could also try an orange-flavoured sherry liqueur (Harvey’s does one) or even a dark cream sherry served over ice with a slice of orange. A Spanish Moscatel de Valencia will work if the orange flavour in the cake isn’t too pronounced or if it has fresh oranges alongside.
Lemon cakes
Lemon can be tricky if the lemon flavour is particularly intense. A very sweet Riesling is often a good option or, if the cake is light and airy - more like a gâteau - try a Moscato d’Asti or other light, sweet sparkling wine or an elderflower spritzer. I also like green tea and Earl Grey tea with lemon flavours.
Recipe idea: Try Add Kimber’s Olive Oil Pistachio and Lemon Snack Cake with a glass of prosecco or a shot of limoncello.
Fruit cakes
A great opportunity to show off a sweet sherry or Madeira. A sweet oloroso sherry like Matusalem is delicious with crumbly, rich fruit cakes as is a sweet 5 or 10 year old Madeira. (Bual would be my favourite style here).
Photo by TalyaAL at shutterstock.com
A richly flavoured whisky aged in sherry casks - something like The Macallan - can also be great with a fruit cake. Or an Irish whiskey as you can see from this pairing of Dundee cake (above) with Midleton Very Rare. A barley wine (strong, sweet beer) works too.
Light, airy gateaux and airy pastries like mille-feuille
In general these go well with off-dry Champagne which doesn’t necessarily mean demi-sec. If the cake isn’t too sweet or is accompanied by unsweetened fruits such as raspberries or strawberries you can accompany it with a standard Champagne. (Almost all Champagnes have some sweet wine added to them at the end of the bottling process so very few are completely dry.) Rosé Champagne or sparkling wine work particularly well with berries.
If the gâteau is slightly richer and sweeter or contains ice cream you might be better off with a fruit liqueur or a liqueur topped up with sparkling wine as I suggested to the lady who contacted me. Or, if you’re feeling brave with a matching fruit beer! A peach gâteau, for example could be served with iced shots of a peach-flavoured liqueur like Archers or with a peach, passion fruit or mango-flavoured beer. (The best ones come from Belgium.)
Iced cakes such as cupcakes
The extra sweetness from the icing may strip out the sweetness of a dessert wine. I’m not sure this isn’t one for a milky coffee such as a cappucino or a latte (unless they’re chocolate in which case see below). Cupcakes are comfort food after all.
Gingerbread
One of those like-meets-like combinations but ginger wine (Stone’s is a good brand) or a ginger liqueur works well. Or even a Whisky Mac (a 50/50 mixture of whisky and ginger wine). For contrast try a liqueur Muscat or sweet sherry.
Chocolate cake
Usually needs something to cut through the richness though the sweet-toothed may go for the matching sweetness of a sweet sherry or a liqueur Muscat. Personally I like it with something bitter like a double espresso, a porter or a coffee beer .
An alternative route, particularly if the cake contains cherries is to go for deep red fruit flavours - a Late Bottled Vintage or Vintage Character port, a Banyuls or Maury from the south of France or even a chilled shot of cherry brandy (very good with intensely rich, dark chocolate cakes and puddings).
A lighter chocolate cake like a roulade can be delicious with a cherry beer (Kriek) or raspberry beer (frambozen), particularly if it includes those fruits. Or try this fabulous pairing of a frozen milk chocolate and raspberry cake with light, sparkling Brachetto d’Acqui
Orange flavoured liqueurs such as Grand Marnier are also good with anything made from dark chocolate.
Recipe idea: Serve this chocolate and cherry roulade with a Recioto della Valpolicella
Coffee, toffee and walnut cakes
Good with sweet sherry, Madeira and aged tawny port (a 20 year old is particularly good with coffee cake). Or an Australian liqueur Muscat which would work really well with the cake below
Recipe idea: Try Rosie Sykes delicious Queen Elizabeth Cake.
Photo by Patricia Niven
Coconut cake
Oddly coconut and Champagne have an affinity so that’s worth considering. More conventionally I’d go for a Sauternes or similar sweet Bordeaux. Or maybe try a pina colada!
Recipe idea: Try Rukmini Iyer’s Coconut and Mango Yoghurt Cake with a late harvest sauvignon
See also What wine - and other drinks - to pair with Cheesecake.
Top image ©Patrycja Jadach at unsplash.com
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