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.
Enjoy !
