August 24, 2019
Gin and Tonic Traybake!
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details!*
A delicious and delectable gin and tonic traybake cake with gin and tonic drizzled sponge and gin infused buttercream frosting!
Gin and tonic
It’s been a while gin… I have missed you. I’m sorry it’s been over a year since my latest gin recipe, but I am back and here to party. Not really, but either way it’s damn delicious because hello gin.
If you don’t like gin, then this post isn’t for you… obviously. However, gin and tonics are still on the rise and I am taking it whilst I can – who wouldn’t want it in cake form?! And before you say ‘what a waste of gin’.. you can have a drink on the side and then have double the gin!
I personally love Gin, and so do most of my friends, but I get that some people don’t like the tonic side of things. I used to struggle with Tonic as I’ve never been the biggest fizzy drink fan, and some tonics can have a slightly weird taste. However, in the cake? It’s delicious.
Gin and tonic meets cake!
This beauty of a cake is a combination of my gin & tonic drizzle cake and my gin & tonic layer cake. Both of them are delicious, but I know you all love my recent addition to my blog of more traybake cakes.
Traybake cakes
Traybake cakes are so much easier to serve at parties, you only need one tin, and you don’t need to decorate it in any particularly fancy way. Bake the sponge, slather on some frosting, and you are done! I just add lime zest and sprinkles to make it look pretty.
Sponge
The actual sponge is just a regular Victoria sponge in a way, but with lime zest added in, and then the drizzle on top. You can’t use a really soft sponge with this recipe, because once you have added the drizzle on top it’ll be really soft like a lemon drizzle cake is.
Drizzle
The drizzle itself is easy… gin, tonic, and sugar. The sugar is important because it’ll help make it into a syrup which will soak into the cake far better than just tonic and gin – and best thing is you can choose which flavour or type of gin and tonic you use!
Gin
I have so many gins at home I just pick whichever I fancy when I make a cake, but I wouldn’t worry too much about using a coloured gin as it won’t come through very strongly at all. The flavour will, the colour won’t as it’ll be diluted and poured onto a beige coloured cake.
Buttercream
Instead of using a buttercream frosting like I have in this, you can easily use a water icing type decoration such as in my gin & tonic drizzle cake post. I know not everyone is a fan of buttercream frostings, and my young childhood memories are of watery icing… with a gin kick though they’re amazing.
Tin
I really recommend using a 9×13″ traybake tin for this recipe because it’s the best traybake size around. I use a 9×9″ square tin for my brownies, cookie bars, and such like… but this is a traybake cake. Whenever I see them in the supermarket they are larger and deliciously sized.
For all your summer parties or celebrations, this one is for you! Obviously, it’s not kid friendly.. but that just means there’s more for the adults! Enjoy!
Gin and Tonic Traybake!
Ingredients
Cake
- 400 g unsalted butter
- 400 g caster sugar
- 400 g self raising flour
- 8 medium eggs
- Zest of 1 lime
Drizzle
- 75 g caster sugar
- 75 ml gin
- 75 ml tonic
Buttercream
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 500 g icing sugar
- 4 tbsp gin
Decoration
- Lime zest
- Sprinkles
- White chocolate chips
Instructions
For the Cake!
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan and line a 9x13" traybake tin with parchment paper.
- Beat together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs, flour and lime zest and beat again until smooth.
- Pour into the tin and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until baked through.
For the Drizzle!
- Add your sugar, gin and tonic to a pan, and heat on a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- Carefully prick the top of the cake with a fork/skewer, and then pour the drizzle over the cake.
- Leave the cake to cool fully in the tin!
For the Buttercream!
- Make sure your butter is at room temperature. Beat on its own for a few minutes to really loosen it and make it supple.
- Add in your icing sugar and beat again until smooth.
- Carefully add in the gin one spoonful at a time, beating each time, until mixed in and delicious.
- Spread over the top of the cake, and the sprinkle with lime zest, or whatever you fancy for decoration!
Notes
- I recommend using a 9x13" traybake tin for this recipe.
- This cake will last for 3-4 days once made.
- Use any gin you fancy, and any tonic!
ENJOY!
Find my other Recipes on my Recipes Page!
You can find me on:
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Youtube
J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
Can I substitute vodka for gin in this recipe?
Yes, you can!
Hi Jane
I want to make this cake recipe to make my 50th birthday number cake I only use large eggs (here in Australia it’s hard to get med eggs,)so how many eggs would I need. Thankyou
Weigh the eggs in their shells and try and match the weight to the dry ingredients x
Made the loaf cake for book club last night, oh my days! This went down a storm 😉 My friend has asked if I can make as a pud for her wedding !
Planning to do the traybake, if I make ahead and freeze when is best to do the drizzle, before or after freezing?
Also what purple sprinkles have you used? This looks gorgeous.
Hiya! I would add the drizzle before freezing, and I used edible dried rose petals! Hope this helps! x
Can you freeze this tray bake
How well would this freeze please.
Hiya, it will freeze well!x
Could you substitute the frosting with a Swiss meringue buttercream and add the gin?
Hi, if you left out the lime zest from the sponge would this work as just a plain sponge? It’s so delicious and light and fluffy I would love to try it different ways x
Yes it would!! x
This recipe is amazing! The sponge came out so light and fluffy. I used Gordons Mediterranean Orange gin and highly recommend that you use this too, I gave some to my neighbours and they came round later that day asking for more! No joke.
Hi Jane!
I’m new to baking and was wondering what tray bake size tin would you recommend for this, if I were to half this recipe?
Thank you so much!
P.S
I made your kinder cookies; first time I’ve ever baked, and loved them!
Hey, I would use an 8″ square tin for this. Ahh I m so happy you loved them they are great arent they!xx
Hi Jane, can you tell me what the red sprinkles are please. Your cake looks fab! Tried a few of your recipes and all have been a great hit – thank you !!
Hello! They are dried rose petals. Ahh thank you so much this makes me so happy!x
Hi Jane, how should I adjust the measurements on this recipe to fit a 8.5″ round cake tin? Thank you :))
Hi Jane, would this recipe work with an 8.5″ round cake tin?
One round tin about 8.5″ I think will be about half the recipe!
Could I do this as a loaf cake? I made your amazing carrot cake loaf so have the tin for it.
Have a look at my gin and tonic loaf cake recipe x
Can you use a gin and tonic favouring instead of actual gin and tonic??
Yes for sure!
Hi Jane, Would the recipe be the same if I had to make this as a 9” round cake?
Hey! So a 9″ circle is about 2/3 of the size – so you can reduce the recipe by 1/3 to fit it!
This is a seriously Ginny cake – my friends and neighbors loved it.
Ahh yay! So glad it was a hit!
Hi jane I really would love to make the Maltese cake but I seem to have trouble get buttermilk can I use whole milk or does it need to be buttermilk thanks I also think your cake are really good have tried a few so far thanks mary
You can make your own buttermilk by adding in 2tbsps of lemon juice to whole milk and whisking.
Hi Jane, do you think you could switch tonic for lemonade?
Thanks. Can’t wait to try the recipe!
Charlotte xx
I haven’t personally tried it, so I’m not 100%, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! x
HI Jane, I can confirm that it worked successfully substituting the tonic for lemonade! If anything it was sweeter, but I reduced the sugar in the cake by almost half which was also a success. Thanks for another great recipe :)!