Vin Santo Chiffon Cake

We recently had an abundance of Avignonesi Vin Santo lying around our office, as we featured it in our October 2009 issue. While I sat surrounded by bottles of vin santo, I was reminded of one of my favorite cake recipes that puts this Italian dessert wine to good use: Alice Medrich's chiffon cake from her book, Pure Dessert (Artisan/New York, 2007). The cake is perfumed heavily with vin santo—the recipe calls for a whole 1/2 cup—and the deep, winey flavor is balanced out with small amounts of lemon and orange zest. It is so light, you could easily devour half of this cake in one sitting. Splash any leftover spoonfuls of vin santo into whipped cream or onto sliced fresh plums or peaches to serve alongside this simple, intoxicating cake for an ideal dessert. —Ben Mims, SAVEUR