Is it even Summer if you've not eaten Pimms cake?

If you live in the UK and are not soaking up these lovely rays of sunshine with a glass of Pimms in one hand and a slice of Pimms cake in the other, are you really celebrating summer?

Even if you can't get your hands on a bottle of Pimms, you could substitute your favourite tipple in this cake - for example Aperol with fresh orange decorations could work, so could some Captain Morgan's Rum with some chargrilled pineapple for decoration. The options are endless really!

Pimms Cake

For this Pimms cake you will need an 18cm x 23cm baking tin, lined.

Pre-heat your oven to 150ºC Fan.

Ingredients:

For the cake

325g Unsalted Butter (softened and chopped into small pieces)

250g Caster Sugar

325g Self-Raising Flour

4 Medium Eggs

2 Medium Egg Yolks (reserve the whites for the buttercream)

Zest of 2 Oranges

150g Dried Apricots (chopped into small pieces)

For the sugar syrup

300ml Pimms (you could substitute this for other alcohol)

100g Caster Sugar

For the buttercream

2 Medium Egg Whites (leftover from the cake batter)

100g Caster Sugar

200g Unsalted Butter

3 Tbsp Pimms (or other alcohol)

Handful chopped Mint Leaves

For the decoration

Mint leaves

Slices of Cucumber, Orange, Strawberries

Note: if you are using other alcohol, substitute the decoration to suit. For example for Rum, perhaps use Pineapple and/or Coconut

How I make my Pimms Cake:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 150ºC Fan and grease and line an 18cm x 28cm baking tin.

2. This is an all-in-one cake batter mix - literally put all the cake batter ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer for c.2-3 minutes until you have a smooth and fully combined batter.

3. Pour the batter into your baking tin, level the mixture and bake for c.40-45 minutes.

4. The cake is cooked when an inserted skewer comes out clean.

5. While the cake is cooking though, make the sugar syrup. Put the Pimms and sugar into a pan over a low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Once this happens, increase the heat and let the syrup boil for about 7 minutes, until it thickens and is reduced by about half its original volume. Pour into a jug.

6. When the cake is removed from the oven, use your skewer to poke holes all over the cake and then pour over your warm Pimms sugar syrup. You probably won't use it all so keep it aside for later. Leave the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Now make the meringue buttercream by placing the egg whites and sugar into a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water. Take care that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk the mixture until the sugar dissolves. To test, rub a small amount of mixture between your fingers and if it still feels grainy, you need to mix more! If smooth, you're done for this bit! Take the bowl off the pot but continue whisking for another c.4 minutes on high speed until the bowl is cool to the touch.

8. Turn you mixer to a medium speed and add the butter. The mixture should be cool enough so that the butter does not melt when you add it. Keep adding the butter slowly and incorporating it into the mixture even if it starts to look curdled. Just keep going for another c.4-5 minutes and eventually the buttercream will look silky and smooth. Then add the Pimms and chopped mint and mix until fully incorporated.

9. Cover the top of the cooled cake with the buttercream. Then toss your fruit into the leftover Pimms syrup before getting creative as you decorate the top of the cake with the fruit. Add extra mint leaves.

10. Goes well with a glass of Pimms!