Lemon Gin Drizzle Cake

This Lemon Gin Drizzle Cake is a twist on an absolute classic bake and one of my personal favourites the Lemon Drizzle Cake. It has a delicious Lemon Gin flavoured cake, a lemon gin drizzle and is topped with lemon buttercream. You literally couldn’t get any more lemony if you tried.

This cake is the first in my summer series of Alcohol/Cocktail inspired bakes. Every couple of weeks or so I will be bringing you a new recipe based on a delicious cocktail. I am so excited about this series and have tried my hardest to include a wide range of cocktail flavoured recipes. Although, if I have missed out your favourite let me know and I will try my hardest to include it in this series.

In the coming weeks you can look forward to Tequila Sunrise inspired bakes as well as Strawberry Daiquiri, Porn Star Martini, Pina Colada and Mimosa inspired recipes.

Don’t worry though, if you still want to enjoy these recipes without the alcohol then that is 100% possible. Just head down to the alternatives section in each post for a non-alcoholic version.

So back to this epic Lemon Gin Drizzle Loaf Cake.

I wanted to base this as much as I could on a traditional Lemon Drizzle and just add a little bit of a twist with the lemon gin. I used Gordons Lemon Gin for this recipe but you could use any brand of lemon gin.

Before you start baking

So, before you start baking it is always important to preheat your oven. This just ensures that the cake bakes evenly.

Also, lining your loaf tin before you start baking also just saves you time when your cake batter is ready, so you can get it into the oven as quickly as possible.

For this recipe, I used a 2lb loaf tin.

To make the Lemon Gin Drizzle Cake

As with all my recipes the first thing we are going to do is to cream together the butter and sugar together to begin with. This just helps incorporate as much air into the mixture as possible.

Once your butter and sugar are lovely and light and fluffy add in the self-raising flour, eggs, baking powder and mix again. It shouldn’t take too long to mix. I use the paddle attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer but you could just as easily mix the ingredients together using a hand whisk or a wooden spoon.

You only need to mix the mixture until it just starts to come together and is smooth. You don’t want to beat it any longer because you don’t want to overbeat the mixture as this can cause problems when it bakes.

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Next add in the Gin and mix again. The gin will make the mixture quite runny but this is okay.

Once you have mixed the mixture and the gin is completely incorporated pour the mixture into your loaf tin and bake in the oven.

How Do I Know When My Cake is Ready?

You will know when your cake is ready because it will be golden brown in colour and when you lightly press down on the top of the cake with your finger it will spring back.

You could also use a cake skewer and test the thickest part of the cake. If the skewer comes out with batter on it pop it back into the oven for another 3-4 minutes.

If you are worried about the cake burning, wrap some tin foil over the top of it before you pop it back into the oven and this will help it cook the centre of the cake without burning the tops or sides.

Cooling your Cake

Once your cake is baked, leave it to cool in the cake tin for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Lemon Gin Drizzle

So, we don’t want your cake to cool completely before you add the drizzle, but you don’t want the cake to be super warm just out of the oven either. I would recommend making the gin drizzle just after you have moved the cake onto the wire rack and that way it will be the perfect temperature.

To make the drizzle add the zest of 1 lemon, caster sugar and Gin to a bowl and mix until it is completely incorporated.

Gently prick your cake with a skewer or fork and gently drizzle the drizzle over the top. The mixture will get incorporated into the cake but will form a lovely crispy top. Leave the cake to cool completely.

Now you could leave your cake at this stage as with a traditional lemon drizzle cake but I decided to take it one step further and add buttercream on top. The buttercream though is completely optional. Your Lemon Gin Drizzle Cake will still taste incredible without it.

Lemon Buttercream

To make the buttercream mix together the icing sugar and butter until it is thick and fully incorporated. Add in the lemon juice and lemon zest and mix again. If you find the mixture is still a little thick add 1tsp of milk and mix again. Repeat until the buttercream is the perfect consistency.

Once you have got your buttercream to the perfect consistency you can add in a little yellow food colouring. This is completely optional but I think it just makes the cake look a little even more lemony.

I piped the buttercream onto the top of the cake using a Wilton 1M Piping Tip and these piping bags. I just piped mine in a simple horizontal line but you could make any design you prefer. Finally, I added some sprinkles to the top because why not?!

Equipment

Loaf Tin

Scales

Measuring Spoons

Spatula

Mixing Bowls

Piping Tip

Piping Bag

Cake Tester

Yellow Food Colouring

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Alternatives

To make this cake non-alcoholic just leave out the gin in the cake and replace it with the zest and jucie of 1 lemon. For the lemon drizzle again just leave out the lemon gin and replace it with lemon juice.

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If you do have any questions about this Lemon Gin Drizzle Cake or any other recipes on my blog you can contact me either by sending me a DM on social media or an email. You can find all my details on the right-hand side of this page.