Mojito Cake

Second up in my Macmillan Coffee morning recipe posts is Mojito Cake

Yes there's rum

Yes there's mint

Yes there's sugar

Yes there's limes

It really is a Mojito Cake!

Ingredients:

150g light muscovado sugar

2 limes zested and juiced

50ml white rum

medium bunch of mint, chopped

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6 eggs

260g golden caster sugar

115g melted butter cooled to room temperature

260g plain flour

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400g icing sugar

200g butter

2 limes zested and juiced

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1 lime for decoration 

Make the syrup first so it has time to infuse all the lovely mint. Put the sugar, 40ml of water, lime juice and white rum into a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer so the sugar dissolves then boil for 1 minute. Take off the heat and add the lime zest and mint leaves. Allow the syrup to cool and leave on the side until you need it.

Preheat the oven to 200/180c fan and grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins. Line the bases with baking paper. In a large bowl over a pan of simmering water, beat the eggs with the sugar with an electric hand whisk. Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water. Beat for 10 minutes or until the mixture is thick and has tripled in volume.

Add the melted butter down the side of the bowl and fold in with a spatula taking care not to knock the air out of the eggs and sugar you have just whisked together. Add the flour in three goes, sifting in after each addition and fold in gently. Pour into your greased sandwich tins and bake for 15 minutes until browning on top and a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins.

Next make the frosting by mixing together the icing sugar and butter for a good 5 minutes until the mixture lightens in colour. Add in the lime juice and zest.

Now strain your sugar syrup to remove the mint leaves.

Take a pastry brush and brush the sugar syrup over the tops of the cooled sponges and repeat every few minutes as the sponges soak up the syrup. Continue until you have about a tablespoon of syrup left.

Then assemble your cake. Place one sponge on your serving platter/plate/cakeboard and cover with about 1/4 to a 1/3rd of the frosting. Place the second sponge on top then cover with the rest of the frosting smoothing it down the sides as well. Slice the remaining lime into rounds and decorate the top of the cake with them finishing with the final tablespoon of syrup.

As you can see I omitted the lime on the top of my cake but it makes no difference if you add it or not, it just looks nicer with.