Strawberry Gin Cake

If you think strawberries and gin are a match made in heaven, you need to make this cake. Fitness food specialist Foodspring and no-alcohol...

Ingredients

• 110 ml rapeseed oil
• 250 g spelt flour, plus extra to dust
• 70 g instant oats
• 40 g ground almonds
• 100 g icing sugar
• 1 TL baking powder
• 1 TL apple cider vinegar
• 65 ml cold water
• 1 Prisen salt
• 60 ml coconut milk
• 240 ml almond milk
• 1 TL lemon juice
• 2 TL agave syrup
• 2 TL Flavour Kick Vanilla by Foodspring
• 1 EL cornflour
• 225 g strawberries, hulled and chopped
• 1 TL lemon juice
• 1 TL Flavour Kick Vanilla
• 2 EL white chia seeds
• 2 EL Lyre’s Pink Gin
• 600 g strawberries, hulled

Steps

1. Preparation:
2. For the base, in a mixing bowl, combine the spelt flour, instant oats and ground almonds with the rapeseed oil until smooth.
3. Add the icing sugar and mix again until smooth.
4. In a separate small bowl, combine the water and apple cider vinegar, then add to the bowl with the flour mixture and knead to combine.
5. Add the baking powder and salt and bring the mixture together to form a dough ball.
6. Wrap the dough ball in cling film (or a beeswax cloth) and chill in the fridge for 20–30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease and line a round cake tin with baking paper.
8. Roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface to a circle the thickness of 5mm and several inches larger than the diameter of the tin.
9. Using the rolling pin to help you, lift the dough into the prepared baking tin. Carefully work the dough into the edges and up the sides to form a 2cm high rim above the top edge, trimming off any excess.
10. Use the tines of a fork to pierce the dough base all over. Bake for 40–45 minutes until golden brown then remove and leave to cool.
11. For the filling, whisk the cornflour and 1–2 tablespoons of the coconut milk in a small bowl to make a paste. Slowly stir in the remaining coconut milk.
12. Pour the coconut milk-cornflour mixture into a small saucepan and stir in the remaining ingredients.
13. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to form a custard.
14. Spread the custard over the cooled cake base, then leave to cool again.
15. Meanwhile, prepare the strawberry gin layer. Put the chopped strawberries in a small saucepan with the remaining ingredients (except the pink gin) and simmer over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until small bubbles form on the surface.
16. Remove the pan from the heat, mash the strawberries with a fork then leave to cool.
17. Stir the gin into the cooled mixture, then spread the strawberry gin mixture evenly over the cooled custard.
18. Just before serving, finely slice the whole strawberries and arrange in concentric circles on the top of the cake. Garnish with a sprig of mint, if you like.