That is what I typed into google last night………I was making a chocolate cake that called for 1/2 cup of brandavino. Now I pride myself on my food knowledge. So it is a rare occassion that an ingredient comes up that leaves me stumped. Until Brandavino. Google kept giving me references to the 70’s and teenagers getting drunk on it. But that doesn’t help you when you’re trying to find a substitute to put in a chocolate cake.
But it turns out that Brandavino is a fortified wine so you could substitute with sherry, brandy, port or marsala. I went with sherry. And there you have it…..the definition of Brandavino that only my facebook and twitter ladies could tell me. And the cake? Delicious. Recipe coming later today with a review of the latest CWA cookbook – my new bible.
I remember Brandavino from Cold Chisel’s song “Breakfast at Sweethearts” where they refer to a “paperbag brandavino” except I always thought they meant BRAND of vino (as in wine). Now I know! Thanks Corrie!
Corrie, I remember it from the 70s. I’ve never tasted it but think it was used as a cheap substitute for brandy. I bottled a lot of fruit when boys were young and did special stuff bottled with brandy in the syrup. Delicious. However, I distinctly can remember a man at the liquor shop trying to sell me brandivino, saying I could never tell the difference in finished product. Possibly a bit like butter/margarine in cakes and biscuits. Difference there is obvious.
I refused and bought brandy.
Thanks for the tip Corrie! I do remember hearing something adout it, but couldn’t put it together. I know now, thanks much for sharing.
Luv
Corrie I can’t keep up!!!!! I want to buy the last cookbook you reviewed and now the new CWA!! I love their books!!!! Oh dear I think my husband will need to buy me a new bookshelf for Christmas to go with all the new cookbooks I keep buying myself!! : )
Haha, the things we learn from cooking! If I had to guess I would have thought it was a cross between brandy and wine… which I guess it kind of is. But no, I hadn’t heard of it before either… and I’m now totally intrigued to see the recipe and pics later on :o) xo
New CWA!! There’ll be some goodies in there for sure! Looking forward to it and I’d never heard of Brandavino before you asked!!!
Oh that word brings back some bad teenage memories from the early 80’s!!!
Oh you make me smile, Corrie. Brandavino was something lurking in my parents’ liquor drawer in the sideboard under lock and key back in the 1970s! J x
I have a confession: when I first moved out of home and was sick, I decided I needed brandy with honey and lemon to make me feel better (oh how young and silly I was). I ended up buying Brandavino because it was cheap. I’m glad I’ve grown up a bit since then.
Ha! I just googled Brandavino for the exact same recipe. Your entry pretty much confirms my suspicions. I picked up the CWA cookbook yesterday with my girlfriend… It’s fantastic!
Thanks for your entry
Thank you for your research (and post)!!! I must be doing the exact same recipe 😀
Have just Googled Brandavino to try and find out what it is … my guess was brandy but wondered if it was a special type of brandy or sherry. I’ve obviously been looking at the same recipe as you in the CWA’s Cake Book. Thank you for answering my question, Corrie. And Happy New Year when it comes along.
l towas looking into the C.W..a bible and was unsure of brand vino, and here’s Corrie already made the recipe.. WOW will make it tomorrow. Thanks. Corrie.
My husband recently helped a friend renovate his mothers old house and he cleaned out the old liquor cabinet, my husband is now sitting here drinking a super old????!!! Bottle if brandivino with ginger ale and lemon! He reckons its ok but I’m not keen to try for fear of a day off sick tomorrow lol!
Its a wine/brandy blend quite simple. Starting in South Australia very popular during the 70’s and a bit into the 80’s. From memory Vintners and Yalumba produced it if Im correct? Easy to drink and not expensive, very popular. I remember drinking it with coke and it wasnt bad at all.
Not available anymore
How funny! I’m making a chocolate cake with 1/2 cup brandavino. I bet it’s the same CWA book.
Thanks for posting your info.
yep! made the cake last night and I think my husband ate half of it!!!!!!
Ah. Brings back memories. Sitting in the back of my brother’s panel van out Hurstville Civic dance hall on a Saturday night in 1977 with my girl friend,brother and a couple of her friends, taking a swig of brandavino and passing the bottle around before the doors opened. In those days it cost 99 cents from the bottle shop.
I have a lot to thank Brandivino for..I went to a drive in movie with some bloke who brought with him a bottle of Brandivino, after drinking the bottle between us I was so sick I thought I was going to die. God I was sick, it was my first alcoholic drink, I was 15 at the time and I decided then and there this was NEVER going to happen to me again.. I’m now in my late 70’s and have not had an alcoholic drink since that night. That drink 76 years ago helped me to keep a healthier body and incidentally a healthier bank balance. Having said all that, I do love heaps of rum in my Xmas plum pudding?
I’m googling Brandavino for what I believe to be the same reason and probably the same chocolate cake recipe.
Hopefully it was a good one because it’s my daughter’s birthday.
Thanks for saving me some time on google. ?
it’s an amazing recipe! trust me, still a favourite here:) and this blog post still brings people here xxx Happy birthday to your daughter