I have been wanting to try this cake for some time, so for this week’s team meeting I gave it a go. This recipe is very easy and delivers a really moist cake. I decorated the cake with a butter icing flavoured with lime juice and a little gin with a little lime zest grated over the top.

The recipe was taken from the BBC recipe web site – http://www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/food/recipes/gin-and-tonic-loaf

 

Ingredients  for cake

200 g unsalted butter softened

200 g caster sugar

1 tbsp finely grated lime zest

200 g self-raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

4 medium eggs

75 ml gin

 

Ingredients for sugar syrup

125 g caster sugar

125 ml tonic water

3 ½ tbsp. gin

 

2. Preheat oven to 180°C (less for a fan forced oven, 160°C) and grease and line with baking paper a 15 x 27 cm loaf tin.
3. In a large bowl and beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy – 3-5 minutes.
4. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
5. Sift flour and baking powder and then fold into mixture.
6. Add lime zest and gin and mix gently.
7. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and cook, in the middle of the oven, for approximately 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. While the cake is cooking, prepare the sugar syrup; gently heat the sugar and tonic water in a small pan stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat and boil for 1 minute. Spoon 2 tbsp of the syrup into a small bowl and mix in 2 tbsp gin – set aside
9. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes into the top of the cake with a skewer; drizzle the reserved syrup/gin mixture over the cake.
10. Allow the cake to cool in the tin while sitting on a wire rack.
11. When completely cool, top with lime/gin flavoured icing.

 

Tips

1. I made the cake in the evening and left it in the tin till the next morning and the cake was lovely fresh and moist. There was a little bit left over and though covered with glad wrap it was much drier the second day – best used within 24 hours of cooking.