Pimms

Cheers to cake!

~ willowbough1 ~ Leave a comment

I love working with fruits and flowers all year round but there’s something about summer that makes me want to make and bake with them all the more. My birthday seems so far back now (although it was only in May) but I’m still thinking about the beautifully rustic Pimms-inspired sandwich cake I made for my party. Yes, I still have a party, even at my age! Although at my age the cake is allowed to include my favourite tipple…

I wanted a summery cake, something that summed up British summertime, so I reached for the Pimm’s. Now I have to admit that I was originally thinking of the original – Pimm’s No 1 – but in my haste I hadn’t realised that I’d run out of this at home. However, what I did have was Pimm’s Special Edition Blackberry and Elderflower, which is super summery and just delicious! And recently I’ve been doing a lot of baking with blackberries and, in particular, elderflower, and it seemed perfect to combine these two delicious flavours. And the final magic ingredient, which I love to add to so many of my recipes, alcohol, made this the perfect summer birthday cake!

Ingredients

12oz butter

120z sugar

6 eggs

12 oz self-raising flour

One punnet of blackberries (seven put aside for decoration)

For the buttercream:

A generous knob of butter

Pimm’s Special Edition Blackberry and Elderflower

Icing sugar

For the drizzle:

Pimm’s Special Edition Blackberry and Elderflower

Icing sugar

 

Method

Cream the butter (I always find this easiest if the butter is at room temperature when you begin) and then add the sugar, followed by the eggs one at a time. Then add the blackberries to the mix before sifting in the flour. Share the mix equally across two 8” cake tins (I use the ones with the removable bottoms). Bake the cake for around 40 minutes or until golden. As always, I’d suggest you do the skewer test to make sure the cake is cooked all the way through.

To make the buttercream icing cream the knob of butter, adding icing sugar a spoon at a time. Add a dash of Pimm’s. Keep adding and mixing until you have a beautiful purple buttercream. Spoon the buttercream onto the bottom cake and sandwich the top half on it. I usually squish it down a bit; don’t worry if it oozes out a bit, I always think it adds to the homemade look and makes it appear all the more tempting!

To make the drizzle mix a few large spoonfuls of icing sugar and a capful or two of the Pimm’s and mix until you have a nice drizzle. Pour this over the whole cake, letting it dribble down the edges. Finish the cake with a small handful of blackberries in the centre of the cake. I also dusted the cake with some dried elderflower to finish it off. Now, do you enjoy this with a pot of tea or with a refreshing glass of Pimm’s? Cheers!

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Cheers! Here’s to a cocktail of cakes

~ willowbough1 ~ Leave a comment

Hurrah, summer is here at last (sort of)! And with all of the street parties, picnics and tennis on the horizon it’s the perfect time for those of us who do indulge in a drop of alcohol to enjoy a leisurely Pimms. Or maybe you’re a gin girl instead? Whatever your tipple, it’s possible to mix the indulgence of an afternoon drink in the sunshine with cake. What a treat!

Throw into the mix being asked to cater for a hen party, where the bride is partial to a summertime drink or two, and I had an interesting challenge coming up with the cake that was to be the centrepiece of her afternoon tea with a twist. The cake was a triple layer of her favourite summertime drinks, mojito, gin and tonic and, of course, a summertime Pimms. The cakes were surprisingly simple and easy to make, using a basic cake mix and adding in the relevant fruit/alcohol, so that you get the right level of flavour but not so much that the mixture is too wet.

Making a boozy cake wasn’t enough for me; I also wanted to have boozy icing (this was, after all, a party cake, was it not?!) so I made Pimms buttercream icing and drizzle, gin buttercream icing and matching drizzle and finally mojito buttercream icing and drizzle. It really was simple, just mix icing sugar and butter with the respective alcohol and fruit juice. The tricky part was not drinking it, licking fingers or testing the strength of flavour too many times!

Finally, having stacked the cakes one on top of another – and I’m not going to lie, this bit was, and always is, terrifying! – I decorated with cascading fresh mint and lime (mojito), slices of lemon (gin and tonic) and a scattering of strawberries, slices of cucumber and orange and fresh mint.

I really was thrilled with how the cake turned out – it looked great and tasted absolutely delicious. And it goes without saying, a three-tiered boozy cake at a hen-do will always go down a treat!

 

Ingredients

For the cake:

12oz butter

12oz sugar

6 eggs

12oz self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

A shot of your chosen alcohol

Buttercream icing:

5oz butter

15oz icing sugar

Up to a shot of your chosen alcohol and fruit juice

Drizzle:

10oz icing sugar

Up to a shot of your chosen alcohol and fruit juice

Fruit to decorate

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together and add the eggs, one at a time. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix on a high setting for a short time. Add a shot of your chosen alcohol and mix, again on a high setting for no more than a couple of seconds.

Transfer to two cake tins and bake on 150 for 30-40 minutes remembering to do the skewer test to ensure your cakes are cooked properly.

While your cakes are cooling prepare the buttercream by mixing together the butter, icing sugar, alcohol and fruit juice (lime for mojito, lemon for gin) until smooth. To make the drizzle mix together the icing sugar, alcohol and fruit juice until smooth. Sandwich the buttercream icing between the two cakes and top with the drizzle and fruit.