CAKE & COCKTAILS

with Signe Johansen, ’Scandilicious’, ’How to Hygge’

A balanced cocktail is way better for an afternoon catch-up than a coffee! Signe’s cake is light with a savoury note, but these cocktails also will work paired with richer, sweeter cakes and bakes.

◁ CHERRY KIRSCH CAKE

In Scandinavia we never need an excuse for a slice of cake, and cherries give this one some real summertime zing. You can use raspberries, blueberries or a mix of forest fruits instead, but cherries work best with the cocktails. Signe Johansen

Gather

480g (17oz/2 cups) fresh pitted cherries (or use frozen, defrosted)

100ml (31/2oz/scant 1/2 cup) kirsch liqueur, plus 2 tbsp for the cake mixture and a drizzle to serve

200g (7oz/scant 1 cup) lightly salted butter, at room temperature

150g (51/2oz/3/4 cup) golden caster (superfine) sugar

4 medium eggs

125g (41/2oz/1 cup) plain, self-raising cake flour

200g (7oz/21/3 cups) ground almonds

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1 tbsp plain yogurt

Toasted almond flakes, to decorate

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F/gas mark 3). Lightly grease and line a 23cm (9 inch) round baking tin (with a detachable bottom) with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, soak the cherries in the kirsch liqueur.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy (about 10 minutes).

Add each egg, one at a time, with a spoonful of flour to prevent the mixture from splitting. Beat well, so each egg incorporates with the butter mixture.

Add the rest of the ingredients, including the 2 tablespoons of kirsch, and gently fold everything together so you don’t knock out the air added while creaming the butter.

Place the tipsy cherries and their liqueur at the bottom of the lined cake tin, making sure they’re in an even layer.

Carefully dollop the cake mixture over the cherries and use the back of the spoon or spatula to smooth the mixture so it’s even.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour minutes. If you have a fan oven, check after 40 minutes – the cake should look golden brown on top and feel firm to the touch. If in doubt, insert a skewer and it should come out with no raw mixture on it. If you have an older oven or one that’s a little temperamental, it may take a little longer to bake this cake. Be patient and keep an eye on it.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, tip it out upside down on a platter or board and gently remove the baking paper.

You can add an extra drizzle of kirsch liqueur over the cherry topping if you wish!

Serve as is, or scatter over some toasted almond flakes to decorate.

◁ REVERSE CHERRY GIBSON

Gin, vermouth and corpse reviver cherries

This ‘reverse’ martini weights the gin and vermouth ratio in favour of the vermouth for a lighter serve. This is contrasted with some sweet acidity from the pickled cherry. The brands here make good partners, but experiment away!

Gather

Half vanilla pod

4 shots (100ml/4oz) cider vinegar

50g (13/4oz) sugar

3 strips orange peel

1 stick cinnamon

100g (31/2oz) fresh cherries (Rainier if possible)

Just under 1 shot (20ml/0.8oz) absinthe

4 shots (200ml/4oz) Cointreau

Just under 2 shots (40ml/1.6oz) Martini Extra Dry vermouth

1 tbsp Star of Bombay gin

Method

Pickled cherries:
Scrape out the vanilla seeds and put them and the pod in a pan with the cider vinegar, sugar, orange peel and cinnamon. Heat over a medium heat for 10 minutes then allow to cool. Add to a clean preserving jar with fresh cherries, absinthe and Cointreau. Leave to infuse in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.

To serve:
Stir vermouth and gin over ice. Strain into a frozen cocktail glass and garnish with a pickled cherry.

◁ CUPBOARD COCKTAIL

White tea, raspberry and salt

This uses things that are stable and always in the house (they are in mine at least!) and can be twisted with different teas and jams, but like a cake, it can always be rustled up. It’s boozeless, but takes a spike of gin if need be!

Gather

7g (1/3oz) white tea

1 tsp raspberry jam

Pinch sea salt

Method

Brew white tea in 8 shots (200ml/8oz) water at 85°C/185°F water for 4 minutes and allow to cool. Put 6 shots (150ml/6oz) in a cocktail shaker then throw with the jam and salt – to do this, fill one side of the shaker with ice, then using a strainer, ‘throw’ the liquid in a long arc and catch in the empty tin, repeat – pouring the liquid over ice each time. Then strain into a small hi-ball or rocks glass filled with ice.

◁ CAKE OR DEATH

Coffee, cassis, aquavit and vanilla cream

This is my update on the Irish coffee – and it’s distinctly not Irish! Whiskey matches the dark, burnt-toffee notes of cheap coffee (which is, of course, fine to use). But I find herbal, red berry brightness when using good coffee.

Gather

10g (1/3oz) freshly ground coffee

4 shots (100ml/4oz) double cream

1 vanilla pod

Sugar (if required)

1 shot (25ml/1oz) aquavit

Just under 1 shot (20ml/0.8oz) crème de cassis

Method

Brew the coffee with 6 shots (150ml/6oz) boiling water. Filter and keep warm.

Gently whip double cream with the seeds of the vanilla pod, and a little sugar if desired.

Fill a hot-temperature-safe glass (a thick-walled hi-ball or a stemmed glass) with hot water, then discard. Add the booze, top with hot coffee, then spoon over vanilla cream.