Feeding Boys & a FireFighter

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Gin and Lemon Drizzle Cake

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Gin, Rosemary and Lemon Drizzle Cake on feedingboys.co.uk
I’ve dreamt up THE best cake for a spot of Mother’s Day baking, yes folks, I give you a lemon drizzle cake soaked with GIN! It might well have earned the label “Mother’s Ruin”, but these days gin’s more like “Mother’s Rescue Remedy” – so why not add it to a cake, for your mum?!

The loaf cake itself is a super simple standard sponge flavoured with the zest of a lemon. Then as soon as it’s out of the oven you’re poking holes in the top of the golden bake and spooning over the drizzle. THE GIN DRIZZLE. Once it dries it forms the most fabulous zesty crust with that unmistakable kick of gin. It’s unbelievably delicious.

Gin, Rosemary and Lemon Drizzle Cake on feedingboys.co.uk

I’ve added Rosemary to this recipe for two reasons. The first is that it’s my mum’s name so feels apt for a Mother’s Day cake, and secondly it goes perfectly with lemon and gin – I often stick a sprig of Rosemary in my G&T.

The Rosemary plant on my patio has burst into flower at the moment. It’s covered in the tiniest most delicate  purple flowers, so I had to include some sprigs in my photos. I’ve used dried Rosemary in the drizzle though as it’s finer in texture – you don’t really want to be chewing on those tough needles. It really would ruin the whole experience, not to mention getting wedged in your front teeth.

Gin, Rosemary and Lemon Drizzle Cake on feedingboys.co.uk

What gin to use?

Use whatever’s you’re favourite – let’s face it there are SO many amazing gins to choose from these days! You only need 50ml so you could even buy a miniature bottle for the job. I used Sipsmith London Dry. Sipsmith began life in 2009 in Hammersmith, just before the gin explosion of recent years. It was the brainchild of two friends who went on to set up London’s first traditional copper distillery since 1820.

Their aim was to bring high quality London Dry Gin back to the city where it first earned its name. Every bottle of Sipsmith is hand-crafted in genuinely small batches. How do they describe their London Gin? “A particularly dry gin with a zesty, citrus finish. The quintessential expression of a classic London Dry Gin. Bold, complex and aromatic – smooth enough for a Martini, yet rich and balanced, perfect for a G&T.” And in my book, absolutely perfect for a drizzle cake too!

The London Dry is a proper classic, but they also have a Lemon Drizzle gin which layers up sweet, sun-dried lemon peels, lemon verbena for aromatic sweetness and vapour infused fresh hand peeled lemon for sharp bite and floral notes to dial up the spritz. Sounds like the perfect accompaniment to a slice of this cake!

The recipe

Gin, Rosemary and Lemon Drizzle Cake on feedingboys.co.uk

4.8 from 10 votes
Print
Gin, Rosemary & Lemon Drizzle Cake
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 

A gin-soaked spin on the classic Lemon Drizzle Cake, this is the perfect bake for Mother's Day or just because you fancy it!

Course: Dessert
Servings: 8
Author: Katie Bryson
Ingredients
  • 125 g butter softened
  • 125 g golden caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 1 lemon zest and juice
  • 125 g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp milk room temperature
For the drizzle
  • 50 ml gin
  • 175 g golden caster sugar
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • The juice from the lemon above
Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a loaf cake tin.

  2. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and mix until light and fluffy - a hand mixer will make light work of this. Gradually add in the beaten egg, then stir in the lemon zest. 

  3. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until combined. Finally add the milk and mix until smooth. Turn out into the lined tin and bake in the oven for 35 mins. Poke in the centre with a cocktail stick to check if it's cooked - if the stick comes out clean it's done. If not give it five more minutes and check again.

  4. To make the drizzle combine the gin, sugar, dried rosemary and lemon juice in a bowl and mix until combined.

  5. Take the cake out of the tin but leave it in the greaseproof paper. Sit it on a cooking rack with a dish underneath it. Poke holes all over the surface of the cake, then spoon the gin drizzle all over the top, gradually letting it soak into the holes and down the sides. Leave the whole thing to cool and the drizzle will form into a pleasing crust.

  6. Once cooled, transfer onto a cake plate, slice and serve with a generous Gin & Tonic - cheers!

More gin-soaked recipes

I’m entering this recipe into Emily over at A Mummy Too’s #RecipeoftheWeek linky

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Disclosure: Thanks to Sipsmith for gifting me the gin for this recipe!

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Gin, Rosemary and Lemon Drizzle Cake on feedingboys.co.uk

Comments

  12. Britt says

    Tried it out to today but obviously something went wrong. The dough had started rising nicely but all of a sudden it collapsed, leaving a big crater in the middle. The cake tasted good anyway (my friend and I both LOVE the gin&lemon drizle!), but it had a really greasy consistency. :-/

    Any idea what could have been the problem?

    • Katie Bryson says

      Oh gosh I’m really sorry to hear that the recipe did’t work out for you! As you can see from the picture, it’s usual to get cracks on the surface but it shouldn’t collapse. Did you open the oven door to look at the cake before it was cooked? Did you measure the baking powder carefully, as sometimes too much raising agent can cause a cake to sink in the middle? I’m going to have to make this cake again to make sure the recipe is okay… I’ll report back if there are any changes.

      • Britt says

        Hi Katie,

        I did not open the door and the amount of baking powder should have been fine.
        ?-)
        I will try baking the cake again some day soon and report back.
        BTW – I used a 20x11x7cm loaf tin. Was that correct? The recipe does not say anything about the size of the tin.
        Regards from Germany
        Britt

        • Britt says

          Yay! I tried again today and this time the cake was nice and fluffy and altogether awesome! 🙂
          Still no idea what went wrong with my first attempt, though…

  13. Mrs P says

    3 stars
    I made this for the first time today but it sank in the m iddle even though I measured the baking powder & didn’t even look in the oven until 35mins was up ! 🙁 it smells good though so I’ve put on the drizzled mixture & hope it tastes as good as it smells even with the dip in the middle.
    Could you use Self Raising flour instead of plain & leave out the baking powder ??

    • Katie Bryson says

      Oh no, I’m sorry to hear you’ve had trouble with a sinking cake – always upsetting!!!! I might try making it again using self raising flour and see how it turns out myself.

      • Britt says

        I had a similar problem with my first attempt. Tried it again a couple of days later and it turned out just fine.
        I suspect that I did not stir the ingredients well enough the first time so the baking powder had not been evenly distributed…

  14. Ju L says

    5 stars
    I made a double mixture and split it half non-gin for bits and half with gin drizzle for a bunch of outdoor swimmers on an evening adventure up the River Dart (and we swimmers really know our cake!)…both went down with a lot of satisfied noises and lasted about 3 minutes in total! Will be saving this recipe, Thankyou!

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