Juliet Sear's caketails (alcoholic cakes!)
To celebrate that Friday feeling, Juliet’s got some boozy bakes for us (and a mocktail cake for Rochelle!). From Espresso Martinis, to Pina Coladas - Juliet puts a playful twist on some of the nation’s favourite cocktails.
Espresso Martini Caketails
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the syrup:
2 long shots of strong espresso
a double shot of Kahlua
a single shot of vanilla vodka
2 tbsp sugar
For the mascarpone topping:
200g mascarpone
150g icing sugar
1-2 shots of Kahlua (to taste)
Coffee beans to serve (chocolate coated ones are nice if you can get hold of them)
4 x Martini glasses, about 10.5cm at the widest part
Method
1. Using cutters, cut out four 9cm circles and four 8cm circles from the brownies. Crumble up the remaining pieces.
2. Use the crumbs to fill the bottom of the glasses, to fill about a third of the way, and press down to neaten
3. Make the syrup by mixing the cooled espresso, Kahlua, vodka and sugar. Pour a little into the glasses to soak the cake crumbs.
4. Place an 8cm brownie disc into each glass and push down with the bottom of a mug (or similar) to aid levelling and neatening. Pour over a little more of the syrup, then add the 9cm discs to the glasses and repeat - the sponge should come up near to the top, about 1cm below the rim of the glass.
5. Mix the mascarpone and sugar together until loose and creamy, then stir in Kahlua to taste
5. Spoon the mascarpone mix into the top of the glass, smoothing over to make a neat finish. Tap the glass gently on the surface to level the top and finish with the coffee beans.
*You can make these the day before and leave in the fridge - just make the cream on the day and add the coffee beans before serving.
Margarita Caketails
Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 x shop bought lemon drizzle loaf cake
Tequila, to brush onto the sponge
2 packets lime jelly, mixed according to packet instructions to give 1.2litres (I used 120ml of tequila in place of 120ml of the water)
To serve:
Juice of a lime and extra white caster sugar to add to the rim of the glass
Straws and lime slices
Method
1. Mix up the jelly (with Tequila added, if you wish) and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes or so in the jug. Pour some into the bottom of the glasses, to come up about half way and allow to set in the fridge.
2. Trim the top crust off the sponges with a cake leveller or bread knife and then cut each loaf in half lengthways to give four slices. Cut out 4 discs of the sponge, about 10cm diameter, to fit in the glass and over the layer of jelly (you may need to join two cake slices together) Place the sponges onto the set jelly.
3. Pour the remaining jelly over the cake to soak and fill the glass to about 1cm below the rim (if your reserved jelly has already started to set, simply pop in the microwave for a few seconds to melt again). Place the glasses back in the fridge to set completely.
4. To finish, use the squeezed lime juice sugar to wet the glass rims. Get the sugar and dab around the rim to create a sugar coating all around.
5. Add a straw (a pretty paper one cut in half looks nice) to give the illusion that it is a drink and finish with a circle of lime to sit on the edge of the glass.
TIP: you might need to make more jelly, depending on the size of your glasses. All glasses vary in size so it’s a good idea to check your glass capacity first - measure how much water it will hold so you can judge how much jelly liquid you’ll need.
Pina Colada Mocktails
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the coconut sponge:
250g butter, softened
250g sugar
5 eggs
Zest and juice of one lime
200g self raising flour whisked with ½ tsp baking powder
70g desiccated coconut
Cheesecake coconut cream:
250g cream cheese
60ml fresh pineapple juice for a mocktail (switch to Malibu of you’d like it alcoholic)
Zest of 1 lime
40g caster sugar
100g coconut cream
1 whole pineapple
To garnish:
Fresh pineapple slice
Cocktail cherries
Coconut curls
Whipped cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan. Line a 23 x 33cm swiss roll tin
2. To make the sponge, cream together the butter, sugar and lime zest and juice until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time until combined
3. Dry whisk the flour, baking powder and desiccated coconut together then add to the bowl and slowly mix in. Spoon in the lined tin and spread out.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until cooked through, golden and shrinking away from the edges. Once baked, allow to cool completely - you can brush with Malibu if you want to make an alcoholic version
5. To make the cheesecake cream, have all the ingredients at room temperature - gently beat together the cream cheese and coconut cream until completely combined, then beat in the pineapple juice (or Malibu) and lime zest until well mixed, then lastly beat in the sugar.
6. Cut off the top quarter of the pineapple and save this for the wedges to serve
7. Cut the skin off the remaining pineapple and remove the eyes then blitz up the flesh or chop finely to create a pineapple crush
8. To bring the pina colada caketails together, trim the top crust off of the sponge with a bread knife or cake leveller. Cut out twelve 6cm discs and trim off the underside of each round.
9. Now layer up your pina coladas - place 1 tbsp of the crushed pineapple into each glass, and top with a coconut sponge disc
10. Add 2 tbsp of cheesecake cream to each and use a spoon to flatten down
11. Repeat these layers twice more, but leave a little room at the top ready for the decoration. You can do this a day ahead if you wish and decorate just before serving!