August 23rd 2024

National Sponge Cake Day Gin Recipes

Gin & tonic cake

Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:1 hr
- Cook:45 mins
- plus chilling
More effort
Serves 12 - 15

Ingredients

For the cake

250g salted butter
325g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
250g self-raising flour
75g natural yogurt
2 large limes, juice only
85ml Warner’s London Dry gin
150ml tonic water
1 tsp juniper berries, lightly crushed

For the icing

200g softened butter
400g icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
zest of 3 limes (using up those you've juiced, above)

To decorate

Pick some viola flowers to add a pop of colour

Method

STEP 1
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Grease and line 2 x 20cm cake tins. In a freestanding electric mixer, or using an electric whisk, beat together the butter and 200g of the sugar until pale and fluffy, for around 5 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 65ml 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 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
STEP 2
Meanwhile, make the syrup. Put the remaining sugar, tonic water, juniper berries, and juice of one lime into a saucepan over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, bring it to a 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.
STEP 3
Once the cake is out of the oven, allow to cool for 5 mins, then prick all over with a skewer, then liberally spoon the syrup mix over both of the cakes. Allow to cool completely in the tin.
STEP 4
To make the buttercream, beat the butter with the hand mixer until soft, then add the icing sugar, a little at a time to avoid a sugar cloud! Once fully incorporated, add the milk and the zest of the limes.
STEP 5
To assemble, place one of the cake layers on a cake board, cover it with 1/3 of the buttercream then sit the second cake layer on top. Cover this, too, in just 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.
STEP 6
To decorate, just add the flowers you have picked to the cake and arrange in your own design.

Warner’s Sloe Gin Chocolate Brownies

Preparation and cooking time
- Prep: 25 mins
- Cook: 27 mins - 35 mins
Cuts into 16 squares

Ingredients

185g unsalted butter
345g 70% dark chocolate
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar
60ml Warner’s Sloe Gin

Method

STEP 1
Cut unsalted butter into small cubes and put into a medium glass bowl, then break 185g dark chocolate into small pieces and add to the bowl with the butter.
STEP 2
Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Place over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them together.
STEP 3
Remove the bowl from the pan. Alternatively to melt the chocolate and butter, cover the bowl loosely with cling film and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes on high. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
STEP 4
While you wait for the chocolate to cool, heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4, ensuring you have a shelf in the middle of your oven.
STEP 5
Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of kitchen foil (or use non-stick baking parchment) to line the base: Pour the 85g of plain flour and 40g cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl. Sieve the cocoa and flour so they run through together to remove any lumps.
STEP 6
Chop the remaining 160g of dark chocolate into chunks on a board and put to one side.
STEP 7
Break three large eggs into a large bowl and tip in the golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar for 3- 8 minutes, until they look thick and creamy, like a milkshake. When the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume it’s ready. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters, and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you’re there.
STEP 8
Take the cooled chocolate mixture and pour over the eggy mousse, then gently fold it together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath, and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides until the two mixtures are one with a mottled dark brown appearance. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like.
STEP 9
Add the sloe gin to the mixture stirring in the figure of eight motion as before to avoid knocking the air out.
STEP 10
Hold the sieve over the bowl of the eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture into the egg and chocolate.
STEP 11
Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking more fudgey. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don’t want to overdo this mixing.
STEP 12
Finally, stir in the dark chocolate chunks until they’re dotted throughout.
STEP 13
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin. Use the spatula to ensure the top of the brownie is flat and smooth.
STEP 14
Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 mins. When the buzzer goes, open the oven, pull the shelf out a bit, and gently shake the tin. If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it’s not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another five minutes until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven, and place on a cooling rack.
STEP 15
Leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold, and lift out the brownie with the foil (or parchment). Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares.
These brownies will keep in an airtight container for two weeks (if they last that long) and in the freezer for up to a month.