Gin and tonic cake

I’m going to level with you. Despite coming from an entire family of fervent gin swillers, my conversion to this summer cooler has only been fairly recent. I used to think a G & T tasted like hairspray in a glass. All sourness and weird fragrance. The only good thing going for it was the fact it glowed in ultraviolet light. Pretty cool to use as a makeshift torch to find the way to the loos, but drink it? No, thank you.

Maybe my revulsion came from going on a particularly awful date with a very angry, sweaty man, who, when it was his round, returned to the table with two gin and tonics, despite the fact that I had asked for a dark rum and ginger beer. He was so angry about everything already (“the bloody barman, the bloody prices in here, the bloody Tube journey…”), I felt I couldn’t tell him I didn’t like the drink he’d just got me. I valiantly (if I may say so) struggled through and managed finally to drain the glass, but it wasn’t pretty. Needless to say, that was the last time I saw that bloody man.

Roll forward several years and how my feelings have changed. Not only can I enjoy a G & T if given to me by mistake, I’ll even actively order at least one on purpose. Maybe gin and tonic is a flavour you grow to like, like olives, coffee or whisky. Maybe I’ve finally grown up, or maybe I was just late to the party. Either way, I’m very glad I’ve discovered how refreshing and summery a glass of mother’s ruin can be. And now that I have, the logical next step can only be to celebrate it in cake form. So here you go! Gin and tonic gluten-free cake. Tuck in!