• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Stories
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Ellas Better Bakes

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Stories
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • About
    • Subscribe
    • Stories
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Cakes

    Published: Feb 6, 2021 · Modified: May 27, 2021 by Ella's Better Bakes · This post may contain affiliate links and I earn from any qualifying purchases. ·Leave a Comment

    Pink Gin and Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    A pink gin and poppy seed cake, speckled with pretty little poppy seeds, dosed in a rich gin syrup and topped off with pink gin icing. If you are a gin fan, in particular a pink gin fan, you are going to adore this cake!

    pink gin cake with glass of pink gin behind

    So I was thinking Gin cake. Lemon drizzle cake. Poppy seed cake. These three are surely just waiting to be united in one big glorious slab of gin loaf cake heaven right?!?

    But hey let's go a step further let's bring the pink gin into the party! It really can only be a good thing! And so pink gin and poppy seed cake was born.

    Warning : this cake is for adults only. I do mean that. This cakes contains copious amounts of pink gin.

    So I have several official Ella's Better Bakes testers. These willing participants take the form of immediate family and my neighbour who kindly provides me with eggs laid by his chickens in return. It's a good gig for me and I feel I definitely come out better from this deal. Freshly laid eggs, soft boiled with toast soldiers. Heaven.

    gin and tonic with cake in background

    Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.

    Oscar Wilde

    Verdicts from the EBB Official Tasting Panel

    My neighbour had never had gin cake before and was therefore totally intrigued by the flavours of the cake and really liked it. I got more eggs as a result. Excellent.

    My mom is not a gin drinker but the cake seems to have turned her. She has since expressed a future plan to explore all the gin variants life has to offer. A bad experience with a bitter tonic long ago left it's scar and she admits it was unfair to blame the gin for this, clearly the tonic was at fault. Since tasting this cake she is now ready to move on and pink gin is top of the list.

    My work here is done.

    She describes the cake as having elderflower undertones, lovely and moist and a perfect consistency. She loved the texture from the poppy seeds and she would like some more please when I bake another one.

    My son enjoyed the cake and was a bit blown away by potency of it. I should add here my son is 21. This cake should not be given to children, there really is a lot of pink gin in it.

    Various other family members adored the cake and I am in total agreement and will be making it again very soon!

    slices of pink gin cake on a plate

    Why does this Pink Gin and Poppy Seed cake work so well?

    Pink gin: Pink gin began its life a a cocktail. For me it is my go-to gin every time. And I have certainly tried a few over the years. This sweet, floral, botanic gin works so well when added to a cake.

    Lemon zest: hints of lemon permeate this cake. The lemon mingles perfectly with the pink gin and the poppy seeds, and really give another zingy dimension to the cake.

    Poppy seeds : poppy seeds are good for you! They are packed with magnesium, which is good for bones and good for blood. Added to which they add a lovely, interesting texture to this cake.

    Pink gin syrupy drizzle: this pink gin loaf cake is quite deep and therefore benefits from a lovely syrupy gin drizzle. Adding the drizzle whilst the cake is still hot from the oven ensures it soaks up the drizzle throughout and results in a beautiful moist pink gin cake.

    Pink gin icing: the icing is a simple mix of fine sifted icing sugar and pink gin. It really is the icing on the cake finishing it off with a punchy pink gin topping.

    close up of gin cake

    Important to remember when making this gin loaf cake

    Creaming butter and sugar: in order to produce a cake that is both light and moist it is really important to use softened butter and cream it with your sugar until really light and pale in colour. This may take a few minutes.

    Eggs: ensure your eggs are at room temperature. This guarantees that cake rises and bonds together.

    Pink gin syrup drizzle: don't be tempted to skip the drizzle step and just ice this cake . It needs a drink of gin drizzle before it is iced to keep it lovely and moist and enhance the gin flavour.

    How to make Pink Gin and Poppy Seed cake

    Another really easy one to make.

    Start with creaming together your butter and caster sugar. This will take longer if your butter is not soft enough, Cream both until lovely and soft and light and pale yellow in colour.

    pink gin cake laid out ingredients to the side

    Add in your lemon zest and pink gin and give everything a quick whizz in your stand mixer or hand mixer just to combine.

    Add in one third of your beaten eggs along with 2 heaped desert spoonfuls of sifted flour/baking powder. Mix on a medium speed into fully incorporated. Repeat twice more until the eggs have all been mixed in.

    Beat in the remaining flour.

    • creamed butter and sugar
    • pink gin cake final mixed cake in mixer

    Add to a well greased 2lb loaf tin. I recommend that you line the tin because this cake can get itself a bit too attached to the tin if not. Plus personally I never want to risk a cake sticking to the pan.

    Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of your cake comes out clean.

    • pink gin cake in a tin ready to bake
    • baked pink gin and poppy seed bake in tin

    Allow to cool for 5 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

    As soon as your cake is out of the oven paint over your syrup drizzle with a pastry brush. This ensures a moist cake, a hot cake soaks the drizzle far more readily, before any crust has chance to form.

    To make the syrup drizzle gently heat your water and sugar until the sugar has dissolved, then leave it to simmer for 1 minute. Take off the heat and mix in your gin. Poke holes in your hot cake with a skewer and pour over the syrup, using a pastry brush to ensure it is spread out evenly.

    Once the cake is cool make your pink gin icing. Simply sift your icing sugar, add your gin, mix and pour over the cake.

    Decorate with a sprinkling of pretty poppy seeds.

    overview of pink gin cake

    ENJOY! Please do leave me some feedback and rate this recipe.

    pink gin and poppy seed cake with glass of pink gin in back ground

    Pink gin and poppy seed cake

    A pink gin loaf cake with pretty poppy seeds, dosed in a rich gin syrup and topped off with a pink gin icing.
    No ratings yet
    Print Pin CLICK STARS to Rate this Recipe
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 45 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
    Servings: 10 slices
    Calories:
    Author: Ella
    Tried this recipe?Follow at @ellasbetterbakes or tag #ellasbetterbakes!
    TOGGLE TO ALTER SERVINGS (metric only) 10 slices
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Here's what you'll need...

    • Loaf tin measuring about 25x11x7cm
    • Stand or hand mixer
    • Fine mesh sieve
    • Spatula
    • Skewer
    • Pastry brush

    Ingredients you'll need...

    Pink gin cake

    • 225 g unsalted butter softened
    • 225 g caster sugar
    • 225 g self raising flour
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • 75 ml pink gin
    • 2 tablespoon poppy seeds
    • 3 large eggs at room temperature and lightly beaten
    • zest of 2 lemons

    Pink gin syrup drizzle

    • 30 g caster sugar
    • 30 ml cold water
    • 1 tablespoon pink gin

    Pink gin icing

    • 150 g icing sugar sifted
    • 2 tablespoon pink gin
    • juice of ½ a lemon

    Here's what we do...

    Pink gin cake

    • Heat your over to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas mark 3
    • Grease your 2lb loaf tin - or line with greaseproof paper.
    • Beat your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and pale yellow in colour.
    • Gently beat in your pink gin and lemon zest until combined.
    • Sift together your flour and baking powder into a separate bowl.
    • Add ⅓ of your beaten eggs and mix on a medium speed for a few rotations.
    • Add in 3 desert spoonfuls of your sifted flour and baking powder and mix again for a few rotations on a medium speed until just combined.
    • Repeat the above steps twice more until all of the eggs have been beaten in.
    • Add in the rest of your flour and mix on a medium setting until all the flour has been incorporated, scraping down the mixing bowl with a spatula mid way to ensure everything gets fully mixed in.
    • Add the mixture to your loaf tin.
    • Using the back of a metal desert spoon, gently spread the mixture out so that it evenly fills the tin.
    • Bake in the centre of your oven for about 45 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
    • Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.

    Pink gin syrup drizzle

    • 5 minutes before you cake is due to come out of the oven make your pink gin drizzle
    • Add your sugar and water to a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly.
    • Bring to a gentle boil and and simmer for 1 minute.
    • Remove from the heat and mix in 1 tablespoon of pink gin.
    • As soon as it is out of the oven, prick the cake all over, top and bottom, with a skewer.
    • "Paint" over your syrup and gin drizzle using a pastry brush both on the top and the bottom of the cake.
    • Allow the cake to cool fully.

    Pink gin icing

    • Sift your icing sugar into a bowl.
    • Mix in your lemon juice and pink gin.
    • Pour evenly over your cake, starting in the middle so the icing spreads out and falls down the sides of the cake.
    Share on Facebook
    Pin Recipe
    Share on Twitter

    Supporting Notes

    Pink gin syrup drizzle - adding the pink gin once the water and sugar has simmered and become syrupy ensures you don't lose any of the alcohol
    Storage: keep in an airtight container, this cakes lasts for about 5 days. It also freezes well.

    Make Your own Notes on this Recipe here...

    Click here to add your own private notes.
    close up of cake with gin bottle in background and flower petals
    « Easy Lime Frosted Carrot Cake with Walnuts
    Persian Love Cake with Rosewater »

    Share on social media:

    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    about me picture ella

    Hi, I'm Ella! It is SO great that you have dropped on by! I am a baking blogger/lifelong baking addict and my aim in life is to provide easy recipes for all levels of bakers with simple and helpful instructions. Together we will bake bake bake!

    More about me →

    Web Stories from Ella's Better Bakes

    Popular Recipes

    • Chocolate Raspberry Tart
    • Biscoff Butter Cookies
    • Platinum Jubilee Cupcakes
    • Paris Buns

    Subscribe to Ella's Better Bakes for the latest recipes.

    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    ©Ellas's Better Bakes. All images and content are copyright protected. Use of images without prior permission is strictly prohibited. If you want to republish this recipe, you may re-write it but must credit Ella's Better Bakes or add a link back to this post for the recipe.

    Copyright © 2022 Ella's Better Bakes

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with this.OkDeclinePrivacy Policy

    Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions