Hurrah it’s Wimbles time, an occasion which is quintessentially British! From the tennis whites, rolling green lawns, seasonal strawberries and classic picnics to wicker hats, beautiful hanging baskets, celebratory champers and sunburnt noses. We are talking English stereotypes trough and through. To keep with the theme I made a Pimms cake to tote along to Wimbledon and fit in with surroundings. I was very fortunate to spend the day on Court 1 during semi-finals Friday, and I had the best possible company: my tennis-buff of a dad (one hell of a guy!!!). He loved the cake and ended up taking the leftovers back to Dorset with him!

For those who don’t know Pimm’s, its a British institution in the form of a summer cocktail – think along the lines of Sangria in Spain or Mojhitos in Mexico – it is fruity in nature and served with cucumber, apples, lemon and mint. We tend to consume it at BBQs, garden parties, weddings and generally all summer events (obviously rain or shine… emphasis on the former). It’s also a big hitter at Wimbledon (excuse the pun!).

The cake is similarish to a lemon drizzle in style, however much lower in sugar! Admittedly Pimms is quite high on the fructose scale, but I have combatted this by adding less dextrose into the sponge and adding none to the syrup mix. Overall it’s pretty darn spiffing cake alongside a dollop of cream and a couple of strawberries whilst watching Federer rack up his grand slam total to 18(!)… Come on Roger!

Enjoying the Pimm’s cake during beautiful British weather at Wimbledon

Rolling green lawns on Court 1 (admittedly rather parched after nearly 2 weeks of play!)

Ingredients makes one loaf cake

Cake

• 75g unsalted butter
•  100g dextrose
•  4 eggs
•  100g full fat yoghurt
•  250g self raising flour
•  1/2tsp baking powder
•  1/2 of a lemon’s zest & juice
• 1/2 of an orange’s zest
•  25ml Pimm’s

Syrup   

• 100ml Pimm’s
• Juice of 1 lemon and one orange
• 3 mint leaves

Filling

• 200ml double cream
• pinch of stevia (optional)
•  Zest of one orange

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°c and line a standard loaf tin
2. Beat the butter and dextrose together until creamy and add the eggs individually. Mix mix in the yoghurt
3. Combine the flour and baking powder and fold through the mixture. Finally, add the lemon juice/zest, orange zest and Pimm’s and mix thoroughly
4. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin. Bake for 35-40 mins (you may want to cover the top of the cake with tin foil at around 25 mins in as your don’t want it to burn!). Test the cake with a skewer, it should come out clean if the cake is don
5. Make the syrup whilst the cake is in the oven. Put the Pimm’s, lemon and orange juice into a pan on a medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the mint leaves for around 5 minutes (until alcohol has burnt away)
6. When cake is out of the oven, prick holes with a skewer/fork and pour the syrup over. Leave the cake to cool thoroughly on a wire rack
7. Whip the double cream and stevia until thick, then fold through the orange zest. Ensure the cake has cooled down completely before piling on top. Dress the cake with strawberries, orange slices and cucumber strips