Perfect Cupcakes for a Jubilee Celebration
Loch Ness Gin & Tonic Cupcakes
After 15 years working in arts and media marketing, Jeni Ianetta moved to the Highlands to be with her now husband and his young son. Having spent her life dreaming of baking for a living she started the Bad Girl Bakery in 2014 from home. The first stand-alone bakery opened in February 2017, and Ianetta now has a cafe, bakery, street food business, plus she runs classes and courses and a successful Cake Consultancy business. Her first cookbook was published in November 2021 and a second bakery will open in Inverness this year.
Here she shares a delicious recipe for gin and tonic cupcakes, perfect for a Jubilee celebration…
Makes 12
12 cup muffin tray
12 large (52 x 40mm) muffin cases
Ingredients:
200g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
Zest of 2 limes
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 medium eggs
200g self-raising flour
3 tbsp tonic water
For the filling:
1 jar of lime curd (you might not use it all)
1–2 tbsp gin
For the buttercream:
365g very soft unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
525g icing sugar
Zest of 1 lime
1-2 tbsp gin
To decorate:
12 lime wedges (use the zested limes)
Put the oven on to heat at 180°C (160°C fan).
Put the butter, sugar and lime zest into a large bowl and add the vanilla extract.
Crack the eggs into a jug and put the flour into a separate bowl.
Beat the butter, sugar and lime together until the mixture lightens in colour.
Pour one egg into the bowl along with a couple of spoonfuls of flour and mix until everything is fully incorporated. Repeat with each egg, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl every time.
Finally, add in the rest of the flour, then gently mix in the tonic water.
Divide the batter equally between the 12 cases using either an ice cream scoop or a spoon.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the tops are golden brown, testing with a skewer after 20. If the skewer comes out clean, they’re ready.
Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 15 minutes before putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Mix the lime curd and gin for the filling, starting with a tablespoon of gin. Taste before deciding whether to add more…
Take an apple corer or a small sharp knife and core out the centre of the cake: you want a deep hole, but the base of the cake left intact.
Generously fill each hole with the curd and gin mix – it will settle so fill it slightly over the top of the hole. Keep the leftover curd to drizzle over the cupcakes later.
Now make the buttercream. Put the butter into your stand mixer bowl along with the vanilla and mix until completely smooth, then add in the icing sugar. Once it’s all incorporated, turn the speed up to medium and keep mixing until it’s super smooth and lighter in colour and texture.
Add most of the lime zest and a tablespoon of gin and stir well, then add more lime or gin to taste.
Using a piping bag with an open nozzle, pipe a dome of buttercream on each cake. If you don’t have a piping bag you can use an ice cream scoop instead: take a level scoop of buttercream and place it on the cupcake, flattening any ridges with a palette knife.
Take the leftover curd and drizzle a little bit over each cupcake. If it looks too thick to drizzle, thin it down with a tablespoon of tonic water. Place a lime wedge on top to squeeze over the cupcake before you eat it.