Cheers! Gin and Tonic Cake

   

At the time writing the pubs are still closed but there is talk of a gradual return to normality. I hope that by the summer I will be sitting in the sun in my local pub garden with  a lovely gin and tonic in a tall glass with ice and lemon. I can but dream!

I tend not to drink at home, apart from the occasional glass of red wine with dinner. Even so, I was drawn to this recipe for a gin and tonic cake. It is a lovely grown-up cake with the taste of gin and tonic without being overpowering. It would make an ideal birthday cake for the G&T lover in your life.

This recipe is from the Delicious Magazine website which includes lots of lovely recipes and handy kitchen tips.

Ingredients

    225g butter, at room temperature
    275g golden caster sugar
    Finely grated zest and juice from 2 limes (put the zest and juice in separate small bowls)
    3 large eggs, beaten
    210g natural full-fat yogurt
    330g self-raising flour
    100ml gin
    100ml tonic
    150g granulated sugar, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling

Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan140°C/gas 3. Grease a 15cm x 30 cm cake tin and line with baking parchment.

Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and add the golden caster sugar. Add the lime zest and, using an electric whisk (or you can do it by hand), give it a quick whisk to bring it all together. Don’t worry about creaming the mix until fluffy – that’s not necessary with this recipe.

Add the eggs and yogurt to the bowl, then give the mixture another quick whisk. Add the flour then, using a metal spoon, carefully bring the mixture together. Don’t beat the life out of it – mix until the flour has just been incorporated. Spoon the mixture into the lined cake tin and smooth the top.

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put 100g of the granulated sugar into a pan with the gin, tonic and lime juice. Place the pan on a medium heat and bring the mixture to the boil, then let it bubble for 3-4 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat.

Using a fork, carefully poke lots of holes in the top of the cake. Spoon half the syrup over the cake and allow it to soak in. After a couple of minutes spoon over the remaining syrup. It may seem as if there’s a lot of syrup, but it will all sink in to create a wonderfully moist cake – so moist it doubles up as a pudding.

Finally, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of granulated sugar over the top of the cake, remove it carefully from the tin, then leave to cool on a wire rack.