This gin and lemon curd wedding cake is a must-have for couples that love gin!

Gin & Lemon Curd Wedding Cake recipe:

Feeds 60

INGREDIENTS:

For the cakes: the first quantity given is if you are using 8” round tins; second quantity given is for 10” tins.

225g (8”) or 355g (10”) unsalted butter
225g (8”) or 255g (10”) golden caster sugar
4 or 6 eggs
270g / 425g flour
Pinch of salt (more for 10” tin)
½ tsp (8”) or 1 tsp (10”) baking powder
Zest of 1/2 lemon (8”) or whole lemon (10”)
2 tsp (8”) or 1 tbsp (10”) lemon juice
1 tsp (8”) or 1.5 tsp (10”) almond extract

For the gin and lemon curd:

4 lemons, zest and juice
200g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter
4 tbsp Manchester Gin Tie the Knot
4 large eggs

For the lime buttercream icing:

500g unsalted butter at room temperature
1,200g icing sugar, sieved.
Very finely grated zest of 8 limes
6 tbsp gin

METHOD:

Line your baking tins well with parchment to ensure your cakes turn out clean. Set the oven at 150C Fan/160C/Gas 3.

Cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs (lightly beaten), almond extract, lemon zest and juice.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix into the batter. Pop the cake batter into your prepared tin, level and give the tin a sharp tap to knock out any large air bubbles.

Bake the 8” for 45 minutes and the 10” for 60 mins (the cakes may take up to 10-15 minutes longer, depending on your oven). When a skewer comes out clean the cake is baked.

Allow the cakes to cool in the tin, then turn out and double wrap in cling film to prevent evaporation of steam, which will keep your cakes moist. They’ll be ready to decorate the next day.

When you’re ready to decorate, make your curd. Put the lemon juice and zest, caster sugar, butter and gin in a heavy-bottomed pan. Place a bowl over a very low heat and gently stir until all the butter has melted.

In a small bowl, add eggs and lightly whisk. Gradually add beaten eggs into the melted butter mixture, whisking over a very low heat for about 10 minutes. The mixture will start to thicken like custard. When the mixture is creamy and coats the back of a spoon, pour the curd into a sterilised jar, cover and cool.

Make your buttercream in two batches. Put the butter into a stand mixer with the beater attachment and beat on medium for 7 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Now add the remaining icing sugar, lime zest and gin. Continue to beat on medium for 5 minutes. You may need to scrape the sides from time to time.

To construct your cake, begin by slicing off the domed top of each cake. Then arrange as follows on a 12” cake board: 10” layer, cut side up, a layer of lemon curd, a layer of buttercream, an 8” cake board, a layer of buttercream, then the 8” cake, cut side down. For extra security, use cake dowels to stabilise the layers. Now coat the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream (this is called the crumb coat) and pop the cake in the fridge to firm up for up to an hour.

Ice your cake and decorate with dehydrated lemon and lime slices, sprigs of rosemary and dried lavender.