Gin & Tonic cupcakes

Gin and tonic cupcakes!!! Perfect for Christmas time. These are fun and will be a talking point to your party. They can also make a lovely Christmas gift. I used the Sainsbury’s gin and tonic essence to put into the cake batter and the pot of gin and tonic icing from Sainsbury’s also (v impressed by their range). I would recommend getting hold of these (links are below) as they bring an authentic gin and tonic flavour to the cakes.

Ingredients: (makes 12 cupcakes)

120g plain flour
130g caster sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
40g butter, soft
120ml whole milk
1 egg, beaten
5 tsp gin and tonic flavouring
12 cupcake cases (I used red and white stripy ones)

To decordate:

1 pot of gin and tonic frosting from Sainsbury’s *
Straws (cut into little pieces)- I find that the paper ones look the best for this
Slices of lime/ lemon
Lime zest
Mini gin bottles to top (I got these from the Sainsbury’s gift range )
Little gold stars (optional)
Gold dust spray (optional)

*If you cannot get hold of the pot of gin and tonic icing.

250g icing sugar
80g butter, soft
25ml milk
4 tsp of the gin and tonic flavouring

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius/ 338 F/ Gas mark 3 .
Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and butter with an electric whisk until a grain like consistency.
Then gradually pour in half the milk and continue to whisk.
Mix the rest of the milk, egg and gin and tonic essence together in another bowl.
Slowly pour this into the dry mix and whisk together. Continue this for a few minutes until a smooth mixture.
Line a 12 hole baking tray with cupcake cases.
Spoon the mixture evenly into the cupcake cases. I usually use a ice cream scoop for this, for consistency.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Then once cooked, remove from the oven. With a skewer, insert into the cake- it should come out clean.
Remove the cupcakes from the tin and leave to cool.
Once cooled, use the ready made frosting to ice the cake. I think a rough icing works well with these cupcakes.
Then top with a little section of a straw, a lime slice and grated lime zest. I also sprinkled on the gold stars and topped with gold dust.
Then top a few of the cakes with the mini gin bottles.