Gin and Tonic Drizzle Cake Recipe
I am so surprised I haven’t made this cake before. A dear friend tagged me in a recipe for Gin and Tonic Drizzle Cake at least a year ago, but then, surprisingly given my gin dependency, it dropped off my radar. All of my favourite things in one recipe, this cake is right up my street. It’s light and full of summery flavours and as pretty as a picture. And did I mention the Gin? This beauty has a gin and tonic drizzle as well as a generous slug in the actual cake.
I love a loaf cake, it’s a big lump of sponge, to be cut into generous slabs. This Gin and Tonic Drizzle Cake has some added extras however, to tart up the aforementioned sponge. This beautiful cake is drizzled with a tonic water and gin syrup, slathered with a lime icing and then decorated with candied lemon or lime slices. You don’t have to adorn your cake with all of these bits and bobs, just the gin and tonic drizzle would be perfect, however, go for the whole lot and your cake really does become both super tasty and totally Instagramable. This isn’t tricky to make either, just the standard cake making procedure and a bit of simmering, and if you can’t be arsed with the candied lemon or lime, it’s not the end of the world. The inspiration for this divine bake came via the evergreen Good Housekeeping website, with thanks.
This is all you need to know about this cake turned cocktail. It’s fragrant, soft with just a whiff of everyones favourite drink. Don’t be put off if you’re not a gin drinker, however, as cake is cake, be it gin soaked or not.
Look at this line up, nothing not to love here. I used my lovely aromatic Fever Tree tonic water for super flavour and just a hint of pink. I also used Stork, because it makes cakes light and beautiful and still not a penny of sponsorship, bloody cheek.
Start with the cake side of the things. Pre heat your oven to 160 degrees fan assisted and line a 1kg loaf tin with greaseproof paper or a loaf tin liner. You can use your stand mixer, bowl and hand mixer or a good old fashioned wooden spoon for this. Beat the soft butter or Stork with the caster sugar until lighter in both colour and texture.
Next, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between additions then fold in the flour and baking powder.
In a final flavourful flourish mix in the lime or lemon zest and the generous 75ml of your chosen gin. The batter isn’t super thick, so don’t panic if it looks a little thin.
Scrape the batter into your lined loaf tin, having a tiny little lick of the spatula, of course, unless you are elderly or pregnant *I am the former, definitely not the latter*.
Smooth the surface of the loaf then place into your pre heated oven for 50 to 55 minutes. The cooked cake will be golden and a skewer will come out clean when poked in the middle.
While this cake is baking, crack on with the syrup and decoration. Start by making the syrup. Pour the tonic water into a sauce pan with caster sugar.
Bring up to the boil, gently, stirring throughout to ensure sugar has dissolved. Once boiling, simmer for 1 minute.
Turn out the heat then measure out 2 tablespoons of syrup and mix with two tablespoons of gin in a separate bowl.
Pop this to one side while you deal with the decoration. Cut your lemon or limes in half then cut those halves in half again. One lemon should be enough but you may need two limes.
Bring the rest of the tonic syrup back up to the simmer and add the lemons or limes to it and cook for around 10 to 12 minutes or until the citrus fruit is translucent and sticky.
Remove the lemons from the pan, no need to keep the remaining syrup, and place the slices on a piece of baking paper. Sprinkle with some caster sugar on both sides and leave to set.
For the final icing topping, mix some sifted *I couldn’t be arsed* icing sugar with the juice of a lime. You may need a little more or a little less, dependent on the size of your lime. Your icing should be just thick enough to pour but not so thin it runs away.
Take your cooled cake and make some skewer holes in the top. Spoon on the reserved gin and tonic drizzle, ensuring the top is well covered.
Next, spoon on the lime icing, letting it drip down the sides of your cake. Finally, arrange the candied lemon or lime slices down the centre of your beautiful creation.
Enjoy this wonderful cake, as always, in elegant slivers or hearty slabs.
The best thing about this elegant bake is you don’t have to wait for the pub to open before you can enjoy it. At last, a legitimate excuse to have gin and tonic all day, hooray.
Lucy x
Gin and Tonic Drizzle Cake Recipe
Makes a 1kg loaf, 8 good slices
You will need a stand mixer or bowl and hand mixer and a lined 1kg loaf tin
Cake
200g soft butter or Stork
200g caster sugar
4 eggs
200g self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Zest of 1 lime or lemon
75ml gin
Syrup, icing and drizzle
125g caster sugar
125ml tonic water
2 tablespoons gin
1 lemon or 2 limes, halved then sliced into half moons
2 teaspoons caster sugar
100g icing sugar
Juice of a lime or lemon
Pre heat your oven to 160 degrees fan assisted and line a 1kg loaf tin with baking paper or a cake tin liner.
Make a start on the cake in either your stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer or spoon. Beat the butter or Stork with the caster sugar until lighter in colour and texture. Beat in the eggs one at a time then fold in the self raising flour and baking powder. Finally fold in the zest of lime or lemon and the gin then scrape the batter into your lined tin. Smooth the top then bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle. Leave to cool slightly before removing to a rack.
For the syrup and drizzle add the caster sugar and tonic water to a saucepan and slowly bring up to the simmer, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Let this bubble for a minute then turn out. In a small bowl, spoon out two tablespoons of the syrup and mix with two tablespoons of gin. Pop to one side.
Slice your lemon or limes in half then cut into half moons. Re heat the rest of the tonic syrup and add the slices, simmer for around 10 to 12 minutes or until they turn translucent. Remove from the syrup with a fork and place onto a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Sprinkle on both sides with the 2 teaspoons caster sugar and leave to cool and dry out. Discard the little bit of syrup left.
For the final icing, mix the icing sugar, sieved if you can bear it, with the juice if a lime until you have a thick but pourable mixture.
To assemble your drizzle cake, skewer some holes in the cake and spoon on the gin and syrup ensuring even coverage. Next, spoon over the lime icing so it dribbles down the side of your cake. Top with the candied lime or lemon slices in a final flourish. Devour in soft, fragrant slices.
This cake will keep well wrapped for a good 2 to 3 days.
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