A shout out to my absolute favourite cocktail! Lime and mint wears the crown while the rum syrup deepens the explosion of flavours. I just can’t get enough and every bite makes you more curious to taste again.
INGREDIENTS
CAKE 5 limes (Tip 1) 2 tbsp mint, finely chopped 2 cups brown sugar 5 large eggs 1 cup oil (sunflower/canola) 1 cup double cream plain yoghurt 1 tsp vanilla essence 3 cups cake flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda ½ tsp salt SYRUP ½ cup water ½ cup castor sugar ½ cup white rum ICING 200g butter, softened 400g icing sugar, sifted 1 tub (230g) cream cheese, room temperature ¼ tsp salt
METHOD
CAKE 1. Preheat the oven to 160⁰C. 2. Prepare two round cake tins (21-23cm) with baking paper and non-stick spray. 3. Zest the limes and chop the mint. 4. After removing the zest of the limes, cut the tops and bottoms off. Cut the skin and white flesh off the fruit. Over a bowl, carefully cut the wedges of fruit out of the membranes, allowing the fruit and juices to fall into the bowl. Break the fruit up into smaller pieces. Set aside. 5. In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, lime zest and mint. Whisk the sugar mixture until the sugar starts to colour and mixture is fragranced (Tip 2). 6. Add the eggs and oil to the sugar and whisk until light and fluffy. 7. Add the yoghurt and vanilla essence to the egg mixture and mix until well combined. 8. Sift the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. 9. Add the lime pieces and juices to the cake batter and mix. 10. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tins and bake for 40-50 minutes in the middle of the oven. Allow the cakes to cool down for 10 minutes before demoulding onto cooling racks. SYRUP 1. In a small saucepan, mix all the ingredients. 2. Over medium heat, stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved. 3. Once the mixture starts to boil, stop stirring and allow the syrup to boil for 5-10 minutes until half of the liquid has dissolved. 4. Remove the saucepan from the stovetop and allow the syrup to cool down. 5. Evenly pour the syrup over the cooled cakes. ICING 1. In a medium bowl, whisk the butter until light and fluffy. 2. Add the icing sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until well combined. 3. Add the salt and cream cheese and mix until smooth. 4. Decorate the cooled cakes and store the cake in an airtight container.
TIPS 1. If you can’t find limes, you can also use lemons. 2. This step is to enhance the flavours of the lime and mint by infusing the sugar with the oils released when whisking or rubbing.