Here at Craft Gin Club, as well as being (obviously) great lovers of gin, we adore all things gourmet! To celebrate the International Day of Coffee, we’re paying tribute to another of our favourite foodie flavours: coffee!

In this mouthwatering recipe for gin-infused coffee cake, our guest chef - the wonderful Gin Baker - combines two layers of moist gin-soaked coffee sponge, a layer of chocolate sponge and generous lashings of gin-spiked coffee and chocolate mascarpone frosting.

So now you don’t need to wait until 5pm for a delicious taste of gin!

Gin-soaked Cappuccino Cake

300g Unsalted Butter
300g Golden Caster Sugar
300g Plain Flour
5 Eggs, lightly beaten
5tsp Baking Powder
1/2tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
3-4tbsp Milk
1 1/2tbsp Espresso Powder
1 1/2tbsp Cocoa Powder

For the Gin Syrup

100ml Gin (we used Conker Gin)
20ml Coffee Liqueur
80g Golden Caster Sugar

For the Mascarpone Gin Frosting

1000g Mascarpone
140g Icing Sugar
1-2tbsp Gin (we used Conker)
1tsp Espresso Powder
50g Dark Chocolate
Cocoa Powder for dusting

Preparation – 50 minutes
Baking time – 40 minutes
Serves – 8-10 people

1.    Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan and grease and line two 20cm loose-bottom tins. You can use just one tin if you don't have two, but it will double the baking time stated above.

2.    Cream the butter and sugar with a whisk or a free-stand mixer. Add the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and fold in. Add the eggs a little at a time and mix well after each addition until well combined. Add the milk, a teaspoon at a time until the cake batter has a good dropping consistency.

3.    Weight the entire cake batter mix, and then split the batter into three portions – one half and two quarters. Into the half portion, fold in the espresso powder. Into one of the smaller portions, fold in the cocoa powder. Leave the other quarter plain. 

4.    Split the coffee batter into two equal portions and pour into the two greased tins. Place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Clean the tins, grease and line again and cook the chocolate and plain sponge as above. Once all the stages have baked, leave aside to cool completely. 

5.    Whilst the sponges cool, make the gin syrup by adding the gin, coffee liqueur and sugar to a saucepan. Place over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and allow to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

6.    To make the mascarpone frosting, add the mascarpone to a bowl. Add the icing sugar and gin and using a spatula, stir together until the mixture is smooth. Separate the mascarpone frosting as you did the cake into three portions, roughly into half and two quarters. Into one of the quarters add the espresso powder and combine. 

7.    Melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Leave to cool for one minute before stirring into the other quarter of mascarpone frosting. 

8.    To assemble the cake, start by levelling off the tops of the cakes. Pour the gin syrup evenly over the tops of each cake and allow to soak in. Place the chocolate sponge on your cake turntable or cake stand. Spread a small amount of the frosting on top of the sponge. Top with one of the coffee sponges, followed by more frosting. Repeat with the remaining coffee cake and then the plain sponge. Roughly spread some of the plain frosting over the sides and top of the cake (crumb coak) using a spatula and then place in the fridge to set for 15 minutes. 

9.    Once chilled, frost the rest of the cake using the flavoured frostings. Start with the chocolate frosting by roughly applying to the bottom half of the cake. Next, roughly apply the coffee frosting to the other half of the cake and the top. 

10.    Using a spatula, smooth out the frosting to achieve a clean, ombre frosting. If you prefer, you can leave the frosting a little more rustic. Dust the top of the cake liberally with cocoa powder.

The cakes can be made the day before assembly and stored in an airtight container or wrapped in cling film and stored in the fridge. The mascarpone frosting should be made on the day of assembly and the cake should be stored in the fridge and consumed within 2 days of making.

Serve with one of our delicious coffee gin cocktails!

---

Like this? Check out all of our delicious boozy cake and dessert recipes on our blog!