Gin and Tonic Cake.
I then came home that night and ate a very unnecessary grilled cheese, but whatever. Details.
Not important.
Very important? One of the desserts was a gin and tonic cake, but it came right smack in the middle of the other desserts. While it was incredible – super moist (sorry people, no other word describes it) and soft and totally loaded with enough gin to get someone drunk – I was so overwhelmed with food that I didn’t have a minute to think about it. Then I came home.
Then I wanted gin cake.
And the freaking gin and tonic cake was all I could think about.
I wasn’t sure where to begin, but I was pretty sure that the cake base was lime. So I went off this lemon lime cake I made last Spring, then covered it in a gin glaze while the cake was still warm. Then covered that in a gin icing once the cake cooled. Sugar and gin. My new favorite combo!
I took said cake to a party we had to celebrate my grandpa’s birthday on Sunday. Well, scratch that. I took HALF a cake to a party we had to celebrate my grandpa’s birthday on Sunday because that’s just how it goes when you write about food on the internet to your invisible friends.
The consensus? I could TOTALLY taste the gin. To the point where after a bites, I decided I “was soooooo wasted man.” Okay. Not really. But it was strong to this non-frequent gin drinker. Super strong. Overwhelmingly strong, but in a great way. Very much like the cake I ate last week.
My grandpa, who drinks gin and loves it (and also told me he was not impressed with my brand of gin), didn’t think it tasted much like gin at all. His words: I’d rather have the drink. It’s cool… when you’re in your 80s you can say whatever the heck you want and get away with it.
My brother, who never drinks gin except for this one time four years ago when he had a party that consisted of a bunch of college students using a TURKEY BASTER to suck gin out of a gin bucket (I’m still having nightmares), could really, really taste the gin. After a few bites he claimed it was “very strong.” I don’t think he ate any more. Gin bucket trauma.
My mom, who occasionally drinks gin but always drinks bourbon, could taste the gin and is still eating the cake for breakfast… as we speak. Huge fan.
My aunt, who is known for her fun signature cocktails, sometimes which include gin, swears she couldn’t really taste the gin. But she really liked the cake.
My dad looked at me like I was insane when I went to serve him a slice.
And my uncle, who doesn’t drink gin at all, could definitely taste the gin and found it to be pretty dang strong.
So, like… I don’t even know. The cake is fantastic. It is super fluffy and soft, and since you poke holes in it like that old school 90s better-than-sex-cake and it is drenched with a gin glaze, it does get super moist. (And yes, that’s my second use of “moist” in this post because have you checked out a thesaurus? I am not describing this cake as clammy, damp, drippy or soggy.) Let’s just say: it totally depends on your gin tolerance. You MUST have somewhat of a palate for it.
I highly suggest taking the gin glazes and beginning with a base of 1-2 tablespoons of gin, then tasting from there. We adored the strong gin flavor mixed with the thick lime cake, but it may be a little too much for some people.
If you can’t handle gin whatsoever… if you tossed your cookies one too many times in college or had your own turkey baster incident, I would not make this cake. I mean, you could totally try, but I do not want to witness the aftermath of your first bite. Stick with something lime-ish and only lime-ish. I’ll have your share of gin.
Gin and Tonic Cake
[cake adapted from my lemon lime cake]
makes one large 9×13 baking dish
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly zested lime rind
1/4 cup gin
1/4 cup milk
juice of 1 lime
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add in sugar and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl if needed. Add in each egg one at a time, beating until fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in vanilla and lime zest and mix.
With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the dry ingredients. Add in gin, milk and lime juice, mixing until combined and scraping the bowl if necessary. Add remaining flour and beat until just combined. Pour into a greased 9×13 baking dish, and bake for 35-40 minutes, until top is golden and center is not jiggly. Remove cake from over and immediately poke holes over top with a toothpick or fork. Pour gin glaze over then, then let cake cool completely. While cake is cooling, mix up icing and once cooled, frosted. Note: you can sub tonic water in for the gin/milk portion of the recipe if desired.
Gin Glaze
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons gin
the juice of 1 lime
Mix ingredients together until a glaze forms, then pour over cake immediately while it is still warm. Note: start with 1-2 tablespoons of gin, if more non-gin liquid is needed, use tonic water, milk or cream. You can use more tonic in the glaze if desired.
Gin Icing
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons gin
drop of vanilla extract
Mix ingredients together until a very thick but spreadable icing forms. Once cake has completely cooled, spread a thin layer of icing all over the cake. Note: start with 1-2 tablespoons of gin, if more non-gin liquid is needed, use tonic water, milk or cream. You can sub more tonic (instead of gin) in the frosting if desired.
Now I’d like a loaf of bread to soak up the gin.
246 Comments on “Gin and Tonic Cake.”
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I made this cake last weekend for a birthday party and guess what? Everybody loooved it, but hardly anyone could taste the gin. I do have to be fair and admit that I didn’t use any gin in the icing, because I thought that there would surely be too much gin-taste when I’d do so, so I made it with tonic from a can. Next time I’ll just go all the way! Oh and this was, by the way, about the first time I made a cake that I actually enjoyed eating myself (I’m not so much hung on sweetness)!!! Great conversation piece too ;-)
Hi! I hope someone sees this! I am making this cake tomorrow for my boyfriend’s birthday. Do I need to refrigerate after I make it?!? Please help!! SOS! Thank you!!! : ) : )
I would put it in the fridge if you are making it a day ahead of time – it doesn’t NEED to be but it will help! and let it come to room temp before serving.
Love gin and tonics so I had to make this cake.
Some things I would do differently…
– The cake is really dry, I would throw in some sour cream to make it more moist.
– Also, the frosting (not the glaze) came out so chunky it was unspreadable. I put some butter and a small splash of milk.
Other then that, really good.
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This was an ok cake. It has nothing to do with gin and tonic though. First, there is no tonic. Tonic is a major player in a gin and tonic. I would call this more of a gin gimlet cake. If you’re a gin drinker and you want to taste gin you had better mix yourself up a strong one to wash this cake down. The cake itself was a nice heavy moist lime cake. A great heat of the summer refreshing cake. Perhaps my taste buds are fried by past gins. I served this to 10 people at a party and the response was the same from all. Good cake but it doesn’t taste like gin.. I’d have to agree with Grampa. “I’d rather have the drink.” Let me add “also”
I did tweak this recipe a little. The frosting seemed a bit thin to me. I added 4 oz of cream cheese..and the full amount of gin. Mine was a little dry because the first lime I juiced was a dud. I only got about 1/8 cup of juice out of it. I should have gotten about 1/4 cup. This was a missed opportunity to add more gin. This is a recipe that needs more investigation.
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So, is there any way to get the original gin and tonic cake recipe, the one you judged? I have high blood sugar, and the amount of powdered sugar looks staggering to me. I love G&T’s, so I’d like to try this, but would like one with less sugar?
unfortunately not, it was over a year ago and a charity thing and i don’t think there was a record of who submitted what. the original version definitely didn’t have less sugar though – it may have even had more! maybe you can omit the glaze?? or you could even try another low sugar cake recipe and use the gin/sugar glaze from this one??
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I love this cake. I made it for my gin drinking group (yes, we have one that meets monthly to drink fancy gin). It was an absolute success and I’m now famous for gin cake. (Although I’ve been passing your recipe on.) Thank you!
Oh and I do a gluten free version made with brown rice flour.
I LOVE this cake! One f my friends made it last thanksgiving and i could not get enough! Will be making it for this thanksgiving, Christmas, ….
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When do I unmould the cake? After it has cooled down?
I’m going to try our son & daughter’s gin out of Ballard, WA – BIG GIN – in this recipe!
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Can you sub the milk for tonic? Love the frosting idea :-)
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Just made this last night after the man brought home a bottle of gin. . Sweet baby Sheba. . Now I can have my Gin & eat it too!! I followed the recipe pretty closely, however. . I only used one egg, with 2 eggs worth of Chia seed egg substitute. 1/3 cup Gin instead of 1/4 cup. I didnt have any powdered sugar for the glaze so mine turned out a little crystallized in the end, but that was the only downside & totally my fault lol. I didn’t get to make the frosting this time either, and it was still an EPIC success. Next time, and there WILL be a next time, I’ll have powdered sugar and another egg or two to add! It will be unmatchable. Love it, Thanks for sharing!
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