World Baking Day!

Today marks World Baking Day!  Now, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Mary Berry or a James Acaster, World Baking Day is all about rolling up your sleeves, rolling out your mix and having a bit more fun. And what’s fun? Baking with booze! I’ve been scouring the internet for a few recipes to share with you today in case you fancy having a go over the weekend. Unless of course you’re off to Leeds for this weekend’s festival, which is promising to be a gooden. Leeds is a great place and when I’ve visited festivals there before, it’s always been a blast!

A little birdy tells me they’ve got 2500+ attending at the Town Hall. Food from The Street Food Guy and a wonderful array of stalls, including: Brockmans, Rascal, Kuro, Schweppes, Soul, Agnes Arber, Old J, Empress gin, Shelleys, Nelson, Manly and Normindia! Ooderlally! With those, as well as the bars, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Bring it on! 

Now then, back to the baking! Let’s start off with the gin:

Gin Lemon Drizzle Cake

A Ginny Lemon Drizzle Cake is surely the starting point on any gin baking journey. Lemon drizzle cakes are a popular choice and the citrus flavours lend themselves to gin effortlessly. Whether you want to keep it simple with a recipe from the Sainsburys site: https://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/alcoholic/gin-and-lemon-drizzle-cake?

Fancy stepping it up a gear? You can with this great recipe for Mediterranean gin and tonic drizzle cake, using oranges and limes rather than the go to lemon. The recipe can be found on the Sharkett Sisters site: http://sharkettsisters.blogspot.com/2017/05/mediterranean-gin-and-tonic-drizzle-cake.html you can create something that’s show stopping and delicious.

Gin Cheesecake

More of a cheesecake person? We’ve got you covered. There are plenty of recipes online for gin lemon cheesecakes. Just to try something different, you can make this lovely sloe gin cheesecake. Being more of a liqueur, you could try this with one of the various gin liqueurs out there so there is huge scope for experimentation! You can find the recipe from Good Housekeeping here: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a574229/sloe-gin-cheesecake/

And if you’re feeling pretty confident in the kitchen, I would suggest this recipe for one of the most beautiful gin cheesecakes I’ve ever seen. It’s a Strawberry and Lavender Gin cheesecake by Liquid Culture at: https://www.liqculture.com/strawberry-lavender-gin-cheesecake/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_smartloop&utm_content=smartloop&utm_term=13409580

Now for the rum fans, there are some very special treats here.

Again, let’s start simple with a Rum Cake. Rum cakes are traditional, holiday season desserts from the Caribbean. Their usually formed as a bundt cake and can contain fruit which has been soaked in rum. However this receipt is incredible simple and uses a packer of cake mix as the base, so if you’re only so skilled in the kitchen, then this is the one for you! You can find the recipe from allrecipes here: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17456/golden-rum-cake/?lnkid=pin14514 

And those sweet, spiced rum flavours go great in chocolate, so you could use chocolate in there too. You could do this by adding cocoa powder, or as in this recipe, devils food cake mix. Phoar! Here’s a simple recipe for that from Big Oven: https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/worlds-best-chocolate-rum-cake/169467/amp

Now, something really rather special for you more ambitious bakers out there. This ridiculous and incredible Pecan Caramel Rum Cake from Salted Mint. It looks absolutely divine and would be wonderful with a little coffee, or rum on the side? Maybe stick to coffee. Still, you can find the recipe here: https://www.liqculture.com/strawberry-lavender-gin-cheesecake/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_smartloop&utm_content=smartloop&utm_term=13409580

I hope that’s sparked off a few ideas for you! These are some of my favourites. But, there are so many recipes to be found online! If you fancy sharing any of your creations you can email them to me and I’ll include them on the blog, or for a bit of instant gratification, you can upload photos to your social media including the handle @GinFestival and the #worldbakingday.

And as for you lovely lot heading out to Leeds this weekend, I hope you have a wonderful time! Remember to share your photos and experiences! You can write to me at bernadette@ginandrumfestival.com and tag us on your social media too. Have fun!

Hope you have a great weekend and week people! Over and out!

Bernadette

 

 

Your home collection and scoring

I received the most wonderful email recently from Colin.

Colin is based in South Africa and wanted to share his collection with us. Not only share his collection but the scores that him and his wife have accumulated over the years, finally completing scores on their entire collection!

Colin first got in contact to say:

“Not sure whether you will find the information on the attached list useful or not ?

My wife and i have just finished tasting all of  our 142 gins and did decided to

keep a record of the scores for each bottle tasted, and as in most things in life our

comments are very much our personal taste but we thought the findings could

make some good reading and should be self explanatory.”

Well, firstly. I wanted to see their home bar. And this is what they sent:

 

And naturally, I asked for a picture of Colin and his good lady:

Look at that love! Absolutely amazing!

” The bar is at home as the additional attached photo’s will confirm [We live in

a little place called Marina Beach in KwaZulu Natal South Africa [South of Durban]

The history of the “my bars” go back to my time in the UK beginning  in the early

70’s as once I had completed my apprenticeship and started working overseas I then

had enough disposable income to have a bar at home. The one you see now is a

joint design and hand made specifically for the house in solid red wood and is a far

cry from my original slated pine one. I even met my second wife over my bar with a

40 oz bottle of Tanqueray that I had just brought back from Bahrain. When I asked

her what she would like to drink she said “I would love a G & T.” A lady of class I said,

which she replied, lots of class but no cash !!! [I even asked her husband if I could take

her out for dinner !!!, 45 years later we are still married] So my personal bar is really part

of who I am and it seems to me to be very much a part of my English upbringing. I still

remember my father telling me that the British Empire was built on G & T’s, the gin to

make you forget where you were and the quinine to keep the malaria down!!

Now, there will be mixed opinion on sharing the scores. Some people  like to go it alone, to find what they think before they find out what others think. Others, well, they’re researchers. They like to know as much as possible before trying something, to get that full understanding of it. If you’re the first type, don’t read on. If you’re the second, well, you guys, this is for you. Before I go, let’s just say a big thank you to Colin for getting in touch! If you’d like to share photos of your home bar, spirit collection or personal scorings then email me at bernadette@ginandrumfestival.com

NAME DATE TASTE AROMA TASTE & TONIC REMARKS
A MARI OCEAN @ 43% 26/12/18 3.25 3.5 4.25 Sippable use cucumber [South African]
BATHTUB @ 43.3% 19/10/18 2.75 3.0 3.5 [English]
BEEFEATER LONDON DRY @ 47% 11/01/19 4.0 4.0 4.5 [English]
BEEFEATER # 24 @ 45% 19/10/18 2.5 3.5 4.0 [English]
BEEFEATER PINK @ 37.5% 27/01/19 3.0 3.0 N/A [English]
BELGRAVIA @ 43% 29/09/18 2.0 2.0 3.0 [South African]
BIG BEN LONDON DRY @ 43% 03/11/18 1.5 1.5 2.0 [Indian]
BIOSTILLA ORGANIC DRY @ 43% 03/11/18 2.0 2.0 3.5 [Italian]
BLAAUWKLIPPEN 3X BOTANICALS @ 43% 03/02/19 2.0 2.0 3.5 [South African]
BLAAUWKLIPPEN 3X CITRUS @ 43% 26/01/19 2.0 2.5 3.0 [South African]
BLAAUWKLIPPEN 3X JUNIPER @ 43% 12/10/18 3.0 2.5 3.0 [South African]
BLACK HORSE @ 43% 29/09/18 0.5 1.0 0.5 [South African]
BLAK MOUNTAIN KAROO DRY @ 43% 27/01/19 2.0 2.25 3.5 Sippable [South African]
BLACKWOOD VINTAGE @ 40% 29/09/18 3.0 3.5 4.0 Sippable [Scottish]
BLIND TIGER @ 46 % 29/12/18 3.0 3.0 4.0 [South African]
BLOEDLEMON @ 43% 13/10/18 3.5 3.5 4.0 [South African]
BLOOM @ 40% 05/10/18 3.5 3.5 4.0 [English]
BOMBAY EAST @ 47% 03/11/18 3.0 3.5 4.0 Sippable & use less tonic[English]
BOMBAY ORIGINAL DRY @ 43% 05/10/18 3.0 3.0 4.5 [English]
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE LONDON DRY@ 47% 20/01/19 2.5 2.5 4.0 Sippable [English]
BOMBAY STAR OF BOMBAY @ 47.5% 15/09/18 3.0 3.5 4.0 Just about sippable [English]
BOPLASS LONDON DRY @ 43 % 26/12/18 3.0 3.0 4.0 Sippable with cucumber[South African]
BOTANIST @ 46% 18/08/18 4.5 4.0 4.5 Sippable but use no Lemon [Scottish]
BOTTEGA BACUR   @ 43% 07/09/18 3.5 3.0 3.5 Sippable  [Italian]
BULLDOG @ 40% 22/09/18 3.5 4.0 4.5 Sippable [English]
CAORUNN @ 43.8% 18/08/18 2.0 3.0 4.0 [Scottish]
CAPE TOWN CLASSIC DRY @ 43% 26/10/18 2.75 3.0 4.25 Sippable [South African]
CAPE TOWN THE PINK LADY @ 43 % 05/01/19 2.5 3.0 3.25 [South African]
CAPE TOWN ROOIBOS RED@43% 16/01/19 2.0 2.5 3.25 [South African]
CLEMENGOLD @ 43% 06/10/18 2.0 2.5 3.0 [South African]
CONSULATE @ 43% 29/09/18 2.0 2.5 3.0 [South African]
D’ARIA RENOSTERBOS@43 09/11/18 3.0 3.5 4.0 Sippable [South African]
DEEP SOUTH CAPE DRY @ 43% 04/01/19 1.75 3.0 3.5 [South African]
DIE MAS KHALAHARI DRY @ 43% 27/01/19 3.0 3.0 4.0 Sippable [South African]
DIPLOME @ 44% 07/10/18 2.0 2.5 3.5 [French]
DISTILLARY 031 DURBAN DRY@ 43% 25/01/19 2.5 3.0 3.75 [South African]
DURBANVILLE @ 43% 03/02/19 1.75 2.0 2.5 [South African]
EDGERTON DRY GIN @ 40% 26/10/18 1.75 2.0 3.0 [English]
ELEPHANT GIN @ 45% 02/11/18 3.25 3.5 3.75 [German]
FLOWSTONE BUSH WILLOW @ 43% 03/11/18 2.5 2.5 2.75 Just about Sippable [South African]
FLOWSTONE WILD CUCUMBER @ 43% 06/01/19 3.0 3.5 4.0 Sippable [South African]
FLOWSTONE MARULA @ 43% 09/11/18 2.0 2.5 2.75 [South African]
FINERY GRAPEFRUIT @ 43% 09/11/18 2.0 2.5 2.75 Just about Sippable [South African]
GABRIEL BOUDIER SAFFRON @ 40% 26/10/18 1.75 2.5 2.5 [French]
GILBEY’S DRY@ 43% 12/01/19 3.5 3.5 4.0 [English]
GILBEY’S APPLE LIQUER @ 20% 12/01/19 2.5 2.5 N/A [English] Do not buy
GILBEY’S BERRY LIQUER @ 20% 27/12/18 1.0 1.0 N/A [English] Do not buy
GILBEY’S BITTER ORANGE @ 20% 27/01/19 2.0 2.0 N/A [English] Do not buy
GIN FACTORY @ 43.8% 11/08/18 1.25 1.5 2.5 [Scottish]
GINIFER CHILLI INFUSED @ 43% 04/02/19 1.5 1.5 2.5 [South African] If you like chilies then this is the one for you !!
GINIFER JOBURG DRY @ 43 % 13/01/19 2.5 3.0 3.5 [South African]
GINMG LONDON DRY @ 43 % 12/12/18 2.0 2.0 3.25 [Spanish]
GINOLOGIST CITRUS @ 43 % 03/02/19 2.0 2.0 3.5 [South African] With Lime
GINOLOGIST FLORAL @ 43% 07/10/18 3.0 3.0 3.5 [South African]
GINOLOGIST SPICE @ 43 % 05/01/19 1.5 2.0 2.5 [South African]
GORDON’S LONDON DRY @ 43% 11/11/18 2.0 2.5 4.0 [British]
GREENHALL’S LONDON DRY @43% 20/01/19 2.5 2.5 4.0 Sippable [British] with lime
GREY HAWK SINGLE GRAIN @ 43 % 12/01/19 2.0 2.0 2.0 [South African]
HAYMAN’S LONDON DRY @ 43 % 19/04/19 3.0 3.0 4.5 Sippable with lime [British]
HENDRICK’S DRY @ 44% 18/01/19 3.25 3.5 4.25 Sippable [Scottish]
HENLEY’S TRADITIONAL@ 43% 01/02/19 1.5 2.5 2.5 [South African] Do not buy
HOPE LONDON DRY @ 43% 12/10/18 3.0 3.5 3.5 [South African]
HOPE MEDITERRANEAN @ 43% 26/12/18 2.5 2.75 3.0 [South African]
HOPE on HOPKINS WINTER WARMER @ 43 % 19/01/19 0.75 0.75 1.0 [South African] Do not buy
HOPE SALT RIVER @ 43 % 04/01/19 2.0 2.5 2.75 [South African]
HOWLING OWL @ 43 % 24/12/18 3.5 3.5 4.2 Sippable [South African]
HUNTLEY COOPER LONDON DRY@ 43% 11/01/19 3.75 3.75 4.25 Sippable [French]
ICEBERG LONDON DRY @ 43% 27/10/18 1.0 1.0 1.5 [Canadian]
INVERROCHE AMBER @ 43% 01/09/18 3.0 2.5 4.0 Sippable  [South African]

Not a classic style gin
INVERROCHE CLASSIC @ 43 % 06/01/18 2.75 2.75 4.0 [South African]
INVERROCHE COCO CARISSA @ 43 % 07/02/19 2.5 3.0 4.0 [South African] No lemon or Lime
INVERROCHE VERDANT @ 43% 29/12/18 3.0 3.25 4.25 [South African]
JAMES ENGLISH LONDON DRY@ 43% 11/11/18 2.0 1.5 3.0 [Scottish Good Bye ]
JAWBOX @ 43% 15/09/18 3.0 3.5 4.5 [English / Belfast]
JENEVER MONTANE FYNBOS DRY @ 43% 03/11/18 1.5 1.5 2.0 [South African]
J.J WHITELEY LONDON DRY@ 43% 12/01/19 3.5 3.5 4.5 Sippable [English]
JODHPUR @ 43% 11/08/18 3.5 3.5 3.0 Sippable [English]
JORGENSENS @ 43% 03/02/19 1.5 1.5 2.5 [South African] Do not buy
JORGENSENS HIBISCUS @ 43 % 13/01/19 3.0 3.5 4.0 [South African]
JUNIPER MOON @ 43% 07/10/18 2.5 2.0 3.0 [South African]
KAAPSE BUCHU @ 43% 19/01/19 0.5 0.5 1.0 [South Africa] Do not buy
KWV CRUXLAND @ 43% 27/10/18 2.0 2.0 3.0 [South African]
LANGLEYS OLD TOM

@ 47%

 22/09/18 2.5 2.0 3.5 [English]
LONDON GIN CO # 1 @ 40% 14/10/18 2.5 3.0 4.0 [English Blue]
LIVERPOOL @ 43 % 29/12/18 2.75 3.0 4.0 [English]
MALFY @ 43% 20/10/18 4.0 3.0 4.25 Sippable but use less tonic[Italian]
MASTERS LONDON DRY @ 43% 01/02/19 2.0 2.5 4.0 [Spanish]
MELBOURNE GIN COMPANY @ 42% 25/08/18 3.0 2.0 4.0 [Australian]
MIRARI BLUE ORIENT @ 43% 18/01/19 3.25 3.25 4.25 [South African] With lime
MIRARI PINK DAMASK @ 43% 19/01/19 3.25 3.25 4.25 [South African] With lime
MONKEY 47 @ 47% 25/08/18 2.0 2.0 4.25 [German]
MUSGRAVE PINK @ 43% 01/02/19 2.0 2.0 3.5 [South African]
MUSGRAVE SPECIAL @ 43 % 20/01/19 2.0 2.0 4.0 Sippable [South African] With lime
NEW HARBOUR ROIIBOS @ 43 % 04/02/19 1.5 1.5 2.5 [South African] Do not buy
N1 DISTILLERY @ 43% 26/01/19 3.0 3.0 4.25 Sippable [South African]
NUMBER 3 @ 46% 25/08/18 3.0 2.0 4.0 Sippable [English]
OLD BUCK @ 43% 13/10/18 2.0 2.5 2.5 [South African]
OPIHR @ 40% 01/09/18 2.5 3.0 3.5 [English]
0URA LONDON DRY @ 43% 21/10/18 3.0 3.5 4.25 Sippable but use less tonic [French]
OXFORD DRY @43 % 23/12/18 0.1 0.1 0.1  [South African] Do not  buy
OXLEY LONDON DRY @ 43% 22/12/18 3.5 3.5 4.5 Very Sippable [English]
PIENAAR & SON EMPIRE @ 43% 04/11/18 1.0 1.0 2.5 [South African]
PIENAAR & SON ORIENT @ 43% 11/11/18 1.5 1.5 1.75 [South African]
PLYMOUTH NAVY STRENGH @ 57% 15/09/18 3.0 3.0 4.5 [English]
Q
RED STONE @ 43% 29/12/18 1.75 2.0 2.5 [South African]
RED STONE CLASSIC @ 43% 11/01/19 3.75 3.5 4.0 Sippable [South African]
ROKU @ 43 % 15/12/18 3.5 3.5 4.0 [Japanese]
ROTTCHER SLOWVELD CLEMENTINE @ 43% 11/08/18 2.5 3.0 2.0 [South African]
ROYAL FLUSH @ 43% 25/01/19 2.0 2.5 2.75 [French]
ROYAL NAVY @ 43% 29/09/18 2.0 2.0 3.0 [Mauritian]
SEAGRAMS @ 43% 14/10/18 3.0 3.0 3.5 [American] Good Buy]
SINCLAIR LONDON DRY @ 43% 26/01/19 2.5 2.5 3.5 [South African] Good Bye]
SIPSMITH @ 43.3% 01/09/18 2.0 2.0 3.5 [English]
SIXDOGS KAROO BLUE @ 43% 21/10/18 2.5 3.0 4.0 [South African]
SIXDOGS THORN & LAVENDER @ 43% 25/01/19 2.25 3.25 4.5 [South African]
STEP 5 @ 43% 15/09/18 3.5 3.0 4.0 Very Sippable [South African]
STRETTONS DOUBLE CUT @ 43% 22/01/19 2.0 2.5 3.0 [South African] Good buy
STRETTONS LONDON DRY@ 43% 28/10/18 2.5 2.5 3.0 [South African] Good Buy]
STRETTONS ORIGINAL @ 43% 22/09/18 2.0 2.5 3.0 [South African] Good Buy]
SUGARBIRD CAPE FYNBOS @ 43% 19/10/18 3.5 3.0 4.25 [South African]
TANQUERAY LONDON DRY @47.3 13/01/19 2.5 2.5 4.5 [English]
TANQUERAY MALACCA  @ 41.3% 22/12/18 3.5 3.5 4.5 Very Sippable [English]
TANQUERAY No 10 @ 47.3 % 04/01/19 2.5 3.0 4.5 [English]
TANQUERAY RANGPUR @ 41.3% 07/09/18 4.5 4.0 4.5 Very Sippable[English]
THE GENERALS @   43 % 04/02/19 2.0 2.0 3.5 [South African]
THE LONDON No 1   @ 47% 07/09/18 4.0 3.5 4.0 Sippable  [English]
TIME ANCHOR LONDON DRY@ 43% 28/12/18 1.25 1.25 2.0 [South African]
TIME SQUARE LONDON DRY@43 % 23/12/18 0.5 0.5 0.5  [South African] Do not buy
TOWER BRIDGE LONDON DRY@ 43% 25/01/19 1.0 1.5 2.5 [South African] Do not buy
TROUVAILLE BLOSSOM & HOPS @ 43% 11/11/18 2.0 2.5 2.75 [South African]
U
V
WESTCLIFF JOBURG DRY @ 43% 04/11/18 2.0 2.5 3.5 [South African]
WHITELY NEILL ALOE & CUCUMBER @ 43 % 14/02/19 2.0 2.5 4.0 [English]
WHITELY NEILL DRY @ 43 % 24/12/18 3.0 3.5 4.25 Sippable [English]
WHITELY NEIL [Protea & Hibiscus] @ 43% 22/09/18 2.0 2.0 2.0 [English]
WILDERER FYNBOS @ 43 % 16/01/19 2.5 3.0 4.0 [South African] With lime
WILLIAMS GB @ 40% 18/08/18 3.5 3.0 4.0 Sippable, Use Lemon zest & fresh ginger [English]
WILSONS LONDON DRY @ 43 % 13/01/19 1.0 1.0 1.5 [South African] Do not buy
WIXWORTH RENOSTERBOS@43 05/01/19 2.5 3.0 3.25 [South African]
WOODSTOCK BEER INCEPTION @ 43% 26/01/19 2.0 2.5 2.5 [South African]
WOODSTOCK    HIGH TEA INCEPTION@43% 03/02/19 2.75 2.75 3.0 [South African] If you like tea then this is the one for you
WOODSTOCK WINE INCEPTION @ 43% 26/10/18 2.0 2.0 2.0 [South African]
X
Y
Z
TOTAL TO DATE 142 on 17/04/19