The festive season is fast approaching with only four more weeks until Christmas Day!
Why not break away from tradition this year and instead of baking a Christmas Pudding for dessert, bake a Gin & Tonic Cake using one of Northern Ireland’s award-winning gins – Shortcross Gin.
Have a look at the recipe below and share your photos with us on social media tagging @celticcanada1
Cake
250g salted butter
325g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
250g self-raising flour
75g natural yogurt
2 juicy limes (juice only)
75ml Shortcross Gin or other…
150ml tonic water
1 tsp juniper berries, lightly crushed
Icing
200g Butter (softened)
400g icing sugar
2 tbsp. milk
zest of 3 limes (leftover from cake ingredients)
Topping
1 lemon ( zested then cut into slices/wedges to decorate)
1 lime (cut into slices/wedges to decorate)
Main Instructions
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4 and grease and line 2 x 20cm cake tins.
Using an electirc mix, beat together the butter and 200g of the sugar until pale and fluffy, for around five mins.
Add the eggs one by one, making sure they are fully incorporated before adding the next one.
If the mixture looks like it might split, add a tablespoon of your flour, then fold in the rest of the flour.
Mix the natural yogurt with the juice of one of the limes and 50ml of the gin, then add this to the cake mixture to make a thick and silky mixture.
Split the mixture between the cake tins and bake for 35 mins until a skewer comes out clean.
Put the remaining sugar, tonic water, juniper berries and juice of one lime into a saucepan over a medium heat.
Once the sugar has dissolved, bring to the boil and cook for 5-7 mins, until it’s a thick syrup.
Cool for 5 mins, strain then pour in the remaining gin and set aside.
Once the cake is out of the oven, allow to cool for 5 mins, then prick all over with a skewer, then pour the syrup mix over both of the cakes.
Allow to cool completely in the tin.
Icing Instructions
To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft, then add the icing sugar, a little at a time.
Once fully incorporated, add the milk and the zest of the limes.
To assemble, place one of the cake layers on a cake board and cover with 1/3 of the buttercream then set the second layer on top.
Cover in a thin coat of icing then put the cake in the fridge for 30 mins to firm up – this will make it easier to get the rest of the icing on smoothly. Use the remaining buttercream to cover the top and sides of the cake.
Topping Instructions
To decorate, mix the lemon zest with the sugar and drip over the cake.
Finish off by adding the slices/wedges as decoration on the top.
Allergy Advice
This recipe may include:
Eggs
Milk
Source: NIGoodFood.com
