3 New Summer Gin Scottish Cocktails And Cupcakes To Try At Home
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Published August 5th 2020
Easy recipes with gin and tonic
Bored of the usual cocktails or plain G&Ts? We have new recipes to help you unwind in the summer sun with carefully crafted gin cocktails with a Scottish influence.
They have been created by famous London mixologist Walter Pintus, who won the title of Best UK Bartender in 2013 and is known for being head mixologist at the world-famous Connaught Bar and for his work at Waeska Bar at The Mandrake in Fitzrovia.
Walter has teamed up with Caorunn Gin - which is handcrafted in the Scottish Highlands - to offer a selection of mouth-watering cocktail recipes for gin fans to savour at home.
Each recipe has been inspired by Caorunn's Scottish link, as it uses distinctive hand-foraged Celtic botanicals including Dandelion, Heather, Coul Blush Apple, Bog Myrtle and Rowan Berry.
Plus, if you get the munchies, there's a scrumptious gin and tonic cupcake recipe to try out too.
An Afternoon in the Highlands
This is a sophisticated take on the classic gin and tonic.
Not just your everyday cocktail, this drink involves a fermentation process that brings a concentration of acidity, fruitiness, and umami notes, all embraced with some quinine aromatics and a hint of floral smoke, for an extra layer of flavour.
Ingredients:
40ml Caorunn | 30ml raspberry cordial or raspberry fermentation | 25ml lemon juice 40ml tonic water | 2ml peat whisky (we like to use anCnoc Peatheart)
Glass: Try a tumbler or gin balloon glass
Garnish: Wildflowers
For the raspberry cordial, stir together 500 grams of caster sugar with one litre of water and 200g raspberries in a pan. Bring it to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Let it cool down, strain, and refrigerate.
Or, if using a raspberry fermentation, weigh 20 grams of raspberries, add 5 grams of salt and wait three to four days.
What to do:
Stir all the ingredients with ice and serve in a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with wildflowers.
This straightforward recipe can be built directly in the glass, over ice cubes. If you don't have a measure, you can use the screw cap from a bottle, which takes roughly 10ml of liquid.
Celtic Remedy
A celebration of one of Britain's best-loved summer berries, this cocktail has a bittersweet character and a refreshing, fruity finish.
Light and amble, this drink is perfect for a sunny afternoon tipple.
Ingredients:
30ml Caorunn Gin | 10ml Campari | 2.5ml cider vinegar | ¼ apple | 1 blackberry | 10ml sugar syrup
Glass: A tumbler
Garnish: Blackberries
What to do:
In a shaker, muddle the apple and the blackberry together. Add the rest of ingredients and shake. Double strain over ice and garnish with a blackberry.
If you don't have a shaker, a clean, empty jar will do the job, just remember to seal it before you start shaking and be sure to strain all the fruit out before serving.
Caorunn Perfect Serve G&T
Ingredients:
1 part Caorunn and 1 part Premium Tonic Water
Glass: Tall
Garnish: Red apple slices (Pink Lady)
What to do:
Build over ice and garnish with slices of red apple
Caorunn Gin and Tonic Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
240g Plain Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
260g Caster Sugar
80g Butter
180ml Milk
45ml (3 tbsp) Gin
½ tsp Vanilla Essence
2 large Eggs
For the syrup:
60g Caster Sugar
60ml (4 tbsp) Tonic Water
30ml (2 tbsp) Gin
For the Buttercream:
500g Icing Sugar
160g Softened Unsalted Butter
15ml (1 tbsp) Milk
Lemons, limes or apples etc for garnish.
Equipment:
Large mixing bowl
Mixer (stand or electric if you have)
Wooden spoon
Spatula
Cupcake/muffin baking tin
Cupcake cases
Saucepan
Cake skewer or fork
Cooling Rack
Piping bag and nozzle (optional)
Method:
Preheat oven to 190c
Mix butter and sugar together on a medium speed in your stand mixer or electric mixer if you have one (or you can just use a wooden spoon) until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix.
Once combined, add the flour, baking powder, and salt in.
Add the milk a bit at a time and mix in between making sure to scrape down the sides.
Then add the gin and mix until fully combined.
Put the mixture into each case ⅔ full
Once all full, put in the oven for 18 - 22 minutes or until they spring back when lightly touched.
When they are baking you can make your syrup.
Place caster sugar and tonic water in your saucepan and simmer on a medium heat gently stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Once dissolved, continue to mix and put on a high heat for 1 minute so the liquid boils and turns into more of a syrup, then take off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Then add the gin and stir.
Leave to one side until the cupcakes come out of the oven.
Once cupcakes have baked, leave them in their tin for 10 - 15 minutes and then place on a cooling rack.
When they are still warm, use a cake skewer or fork to gently puncture the top of each cake several times.
Use a pastry brush to drizzle the syrup over the cakes so it soaks into them.
Once the cupcakes are cool, make your buttercream.
Place icing sugar and butter in your mixer again and mix together on a very low speed with either the whisk or paddle attachment. You can switch the mixer off and use your hands or a spatula to rub the butter pieces into the icing sugar in the bowl to get it started if it is taking a while.
Then add 2-4 tsp of your syrup (to taste) into the butter and icing sugar and then add a little bit of milk at a time and mix on a medium speed after each addition. You can add any liquid, fine zest or powder flavours or colours at this point.
Then mix on a high speed for around 6-8 minutes or until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
You can then smooth the buttercream on the cupcakes with a spatula or palette knife or you can use a piping bag and nozzle to decorate your cakes.
You can then top with any garnish you would like, Caorunn Gin suggests serving their G&Ts with a slice of a Pink Lady apple, so we've used that on ours, but you could also use lime, lemon or even decorative paper straws.
Carefully handcrafted in the Scottish Highlands, Caorunn, which costs £29 a bottle in Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco, is nurtured in small batches and quadruple-distilled, giving it a dry and crisp, aromatic taste.
Exciting new gin cocktails to try with a Scottish flavour
They have been created by famous London mixologist Walter Pintus, who won the title of Best UK Bartender in 2013 and is known for being head mixologist at the world-famous Connaught Bar and for his work at Waeska Bar at The Mandrake in Fitzrovia.
Walter has teamed up with Caorunn Gin - which is handcrafted in the Scottish Highlands - to offer a selection of mouth-watering cocktail recipes for gin fans to savour at home.
Plus, if you get the munchies, there's a scrumptious gin and tonic cupcake recipe to try out too.
An Afternoon in the Highlands
This is a sophisticated take on the classic gin and tonic.
Not just your everyday cocktail, this drink involves a fermentation process that brings a concentration of acidity, fruitiness, and umami notes, all embraced with some quinine aromatics and a hint of floral smoke, for an extra layer of flavour.
Ingredients:
40ml Caorunn | 30ml raspberry cordial or raspberry fermentation | 25ml lemon juice 40ml tonic water | 2ml peat whisky (we like to use anCnoc Peatheart)
Glass: Try a tumbler or gin balloon glass
Garnish: Wildflowers
For the raspberry cordial, stir together 500 grams of caster sugar with one litre of water and 200g raspberries in a pan. Bring it to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Let it cool down, strain, and refrigerate.
Or, if using a raspberry fermentation, weigh 20 grams of raspberries, add 5 grams of salt and wait three to four days.
What to do:
Stir all the ingredients with ice and serve in a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with wildflowers.
This straightforward recipe can be built directly in the glass, over ice cubes. If you don't have a measure, you can use the screw cap from a bottle, which takes roughly 10ml of liquid.
Celtic Remedy
A celebration of one of Britain's best-loved summer berries, this cocktail has a bittersweet character and a refreshing, fruity finish.
Light and amble, this drink is perfect for a sunny afternoon tipple.
Ingredients:
30ml Caorunn Gin | 10ml Campari | 2.5ml cider vinegar | ¼ apple | 1 blackberry | 10ml sugar syrup
Glass: A tumbler
Garnish: Blackberries
What to do:
In a shaker, muddle the apple and the blackberry together. Add the rest of ingredients and shake. Double strain over ice and garnish with a blackberry.
If you don't have a shaker, a clean, empty jar will do the job, just remember to seal it before you start shaking and be sure to strain all the fruit out before serving.
Caorunn Perfect Serve G&T
Ingredients:
1 part Caorunn and 1 part Premium Tonic Water
Glass: Tall
Garnish: Red apple slices (Pink Lady)
What to do:
Build over ice and garnish with slices of red apple
Scrumptious G&T cupcakes
Caorunn Gin and Tonic Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
240g Plain Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
260g Caster Sugar
80g Butter
180ml Milk
45ml (3 tbsp) Gin
½ tsp Vanilla Essence
2 large Eggs
For the syrup:
60g Caster Sugar
60ml (4 tbsp) Tonic Water
30ml (2 tbsp) Gin
For the Buttercream:
500g Icing Sugar
160g Softened Unsalted Butter
15ml (1 tbsp) Milk
Lemons, limes or apples etc for garnish.
Equipment:
Large mixing bowl
Mixer (stand or electric if you have)
Wooden spoon
Spatula
Cupcake/muffin baking tin
Cupcake cases
Saucepan
Cake skewer or fork
Cooling Rack
Piping bag and nozzle (optional)
Method:
Preheat oven to 190c
Mix butter and sugar together on a medium speed in your stand mixer or electric mixer if you have one (or you can just use a wooden spoon) until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix.
Once combined, add the flour, baking powder, and salt in.
Add the milk a bit at a time and mix in between making sure to scrape down the sides.
Then add the gin and mix until fully combined.
Put the mixture into each case ⅔ full
Once all full, put in the oven for 18 - 22 minutes or until they spring back when lightly touched.
When they are baking you can make your syrup.
Place caster sugar and tonic water in your saucepan and simmer on a medium heat gently stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Once dissolved, continue to mix and put on a high heat for 1 minute so the liquid boils and turns into more of a syrup, then take off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Then add the gin and stir.
Leave to one side until the cupcakes come out of the oven.
Once cupcakes have baked, leave them in their tin for 10 - 15 minutes and then place on a cooling rack.
When they are still warm, use a cake skewer or fork to gently puncture the top of each cake several times.
Use a pastry brush to drizzle the syrup over the cakes so it soaks into them.
Once the cupcakes are cool, make your buttercream.
Place icing sugar and butter in your mixer again and mix together on a very low speed with either the whisk or paddle attachment. You can switch the mixer off and use your hands or a spatula to rub the butter pieces into the icing sugar in the bowl to get it started if it is taking a while.
Then add 2-4 tsp of your syrup (to taste) into the butter and icing sugar and then add a little bit of milk at a time and mix on a medium speed after each addition. You can add any liquid, fine zest or powder flavours or colours at this point.
Then mix on a high speed for around 6-8 minutes or until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
You can then smooth the buttercream on the cupcakes with a spatula or palette knife or you can use a piping bag and nozzle to decorate your cakes.
You can then top with any garnish you would like, Caorunn Gin suggests serving their G&Ts with a slice of a Pink Lady apple, so we've used that on ours, but you could also use lime, lemon or even decorative paper straws.
Carefully handcrafted in the Scottish Highlands, Caorunn, which costs £29 a bottle in Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco, is nurtured in small batches and quadruple-distilled, giving it a dry and crisp, aromatic taste.
Why? Make cocktails and cupcakes to enjoy at home
When: anytime
Website: https://www.caorunngin.com
Where: At home
Cost: Gin costs £29 a bottle
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