Caorunn Gin has partnered with renowned baker Lily Vanilli, to create a bespoke Caorunn Christmas cake with a twist. The Caorunn Christmas Carrot Cake showcases the somewhat spicy, full-bodied and invigorating flavour, with the clean and crisp finish found exclusively in hand-crafted Caorunn gin.
The Caorunn Christmas Carrot Cake is created by combining dried fruit, zesty fresh fruit, carrot, beetroot and Caorunn Gin for a delectable cake to remember. Mix dry and fresh ingredients together in a bowl and split our into two halves. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
Once the two halves come out of the oven you can build your cake and add any icing you desire to tailor it to your Christmas table, for showstopping results which reflect your personal taste. When Christmas day finally arrives after much anticipation, you will have the perfect home-made Caorunn Gin Carrot Cake to serve your guests. This can be enjoyed with the perfect serve (Caorunn Gin, Tonic water and a slice of apple).
Caorunn Christmas Carrot Cake Recipe
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
The dried fruit:
- 90g raisins or any dried fruit of your choice
The fresh ingredients:
- 250g carrots and beetroots - peeled and trimmed
- 1 orange - Juice and finely grated zest
- 1 lemon - Juice and finely grated zest
- 175ml runny honey
- 75ml water
- 120ml Caorunn Gin
The dry ingredients:
- 125g unsalted butter
- 225g wholegrain flour
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 100g nuts (walnuts and pecans) - toasted in a preheated 180°C fan assisted/gas mark 6 oven for 6–7 minutes, or until aromatic and just starting to brown, then broken into pieces
The spices
- Pinch of cinnamon
- ¼ nutmeg - finely grated
- Seeds from 4 cardamom pods - crushed
- 1/4 tsp ground clove (optional)
Have ready:
- Two 18cm round cake tins, greased and lined
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan assisted/gas mark 6.
- Heat the honey, water, Caorunn, butter, carrot mix, dried fruit, citrus zest and juice, and spices together in a pan, stirring gently to melt the butter.
- Bring to the boil, then boil for exactly 6 minutes.
- Take the mixture off the heat and allow to cool completely to room temperature – transfer to another bowl to speed up this process, leaving it to mix slowly on a stand mixer also speeds this up.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together the flour and bicarbonate of soda and stir in the crushed nuts.
- Fold the wet mix into the dry. Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake tins and level out to the edges.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy and add any icing of your choice!
You can find out more about Caorunn Gin here, and Lily Vanilli here.
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