Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world...

Hello lovely readers! As many of you may realise we are now well into the summer holidays and the cup and tail girls are scattered all round the globe (well mainly just Europe but still far away nonetheless!) So as we all sit counting the days until we are finally reunited, baking keeps us sane, even if it is with a little alcohol. For a couple of us girls, the drink of choice is without a doubt the refreshing gin & tonic. We love it so much that our phones now autocorrect ‘got’ to g&t’… we prefer to call it gin enthusiasm rather than ‘a problem’.   

This week is the debut of our first cocktail cupcake recipe- Gin and Tonic cupcakes! Well that’s if you want to classify the almighty G&T as a cocktail (its alcohol all the same right?). If, like us, you prefer your gin with ice and a slice and a small splash of tonic at pretty much anytime of the day then there is no doubt you’re going to love this recipe. In the wise words of W.C. Fields “I never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast”.

We realise that traditionally a G&T is served with a lime wedge but we tried the lemon slice and now just can’t decide which is better- the struggle is real! So in this recipe we opted for the lemon however feel free to mix it up if you wanna be faithful to the trusty limes!

Unfortunately we cant take full credit for this recipe, we found inspiration in the Primrose Bakery cookbook as shown in the picture below! We tweaked this as their cake recipe was a little complicated (sorry Lisa and Martha!) so we simplified it to work better for us. 

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

170g (6oz) Butter

170g (6oz) Sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Zest of 2 Lemons

170g (6oz) Plain Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

For the Syrup:

Juice of 2 lemons

100g Sugar

100ml Tonic Water

100ml Gin

1 lemon

For the Buttercream:

115g Butter

60ml G&T Syrup (from above)

500g Icing Sugar

Method:

First make the syrup. In a pan heat the lemon juice (make sure you zest them before you take the juice as the zest is needed for the cake), sugar and tonic water until it boils. Then reduce to a medium heat and simmer for about 5 minutes- it should be syrupy and the sugar dissolved. Slice the last lemon into thin slices and add them to the pan and simmer for 2 more minutes. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the gin. If you can resist the temptation of drinking this straight from the pan, reserve 60ml of the syrup for the icing. Strain the remaining syrup, saving the lemon slices for decoration, and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and lemon zest. Fold the flour and baking powder in carefully until everything is incorporated. Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake for about 15mins or until they are golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and poke holes in the surface with a skewer. Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining syrup over each cupcake while they are still warm until it is all used. Leave to cool completely while you make the buttercream.

With an electric hand whisk, beat the butter, half the icing sugar, the syrup and vanilla. Once all this is creamy, add the remaining icing sugar and beat until super light and yummy looking. Top each cupcake however you feel necessary (we just used a knife) and decorate with the candied lemon slices leftover from making the syrup.

Tips and Tricks:

• Not a fan of gin? Even though you’re probably insane we’ll forgive you, leave the gin out and it still makes a beautiful lemon drizzle cake with a tonic twist.
• Prefer lime? That’s cool, switch the lemons for its greener little brother, works just as well.

We feel these are best served with a traditional G&T for a grown up afternoon tea- why not, you only live once! And it’s a great excuse not to have to share them with younger family members, cake for adults only, what could be better?! Better grab that cooking apron right now.. Enjoy!

Love the Cup & Tail Girls xxxx