This is basically a gin & tonic-fest. The cake is plain sponge, but is covered with a gin & tonic flavoured frosting and topped with a gin & tonic jelly.
The icing is pre-flavoured and is from Lakeland. It’s not often that I use pre-mixed shop bought products rather than making my own from scratch, but I was intrigued as to whether the icing actually tastes of gin (it does).
For the gin & tonic jelly
- 150 g caster sugar
- 125 ml gin
- 200 ml tonic water
- 14 g leaf gelatine
- 2 limes (juiced and zested)
For the cake
- 260 g caster sugar
- 260 g self-raising flour
- 150 g softened butter
- 1 and a half tsp. baking powder
- 3 eggs (beaten)
- 6 tbsp. milk
- Green food colouring
- Yellow food colouring
For the filling
- 250 ml double cream
- Icing sugar (to thicken)
- To decorate & serve
- 350 g of Lakeland Gin & Tonic Flavoured Frosting
- Zest of 2 limes
To make the gin & tonic jelly (this can be done the day before making the cake)
- Add the caster sugar and 150ml of water to a pan and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes, remove from the heat, then add the lime zest and steep for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for at least 5 minutes.
- Strain the sugar and lime mixture into a measuring jug and add the lime juice, tonic water and gin. Pour 125ml of this mixture into a pan and warm through without bringing to a boil, then remove and let it cool a little.
- Squeeze any excess water from your gelatine leaves then stir them into the warm mixture in the pan until completely dissolved.
- Pour the warm mixture in the pan into the rest of the liquid in the measuring jug, stirring as you pour until thoroughly combined.
- Remove and reserve 6 tablespoons of the mixture ─ this will be used to brush onto the sponge layers and add to the Martini Toppers.
- Line a small oven tray or dish with cling film and pour in the rest of the mixture. Leave to set for at least 6 hours.
To make the cake and filling
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Grease all five pans from the Wilton Easy Layer 15cm Cake Pan Set, line with baking parchment and set aside.
- To make the sponges, beat together the caster sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, flour, baking powder and milk and beat until smooth and well combined.
- Divide the mixture between two bowls in a two fifths, three fifths split. Add a few drops of green food colouring to the smaller portion, and a few drops of yellow food colouring to the larger portion.
- Divide the green mixture between two pans and the yellow mixture between three pans. Place all the cake pans into the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, then remove and leave to cool.
- Once the sponge layers have cooled, brush the top and bottom of each one with a little of the reserved gin and tonic mixture.
- Place the double cream and mixed gin and tonic to a bowl and whisk together, adding icing sugar as you whisk until the mixture reaches your desired consistency.
To assemble and decorate
- Starting with a yellow sponge on the base, build up your cake with alternating yellow and green sponges, adding a layer of whipped cream filling between each.
- Using a spatula, cover the whole cake in Lakeland Gin & Tonic Flavoured Frosting.
- Remove the gin and tonic jelly from the cling film, chop into cubes then sprinkle over the top of the cake.
- Finish off with a sprinkling of lime zest and a few extra wedges of lime, if desired.