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Side photo of Pimms cake topped with piped buttercream icing, cucumber, strawberries, orange segments and mint on a white plate in a garden with green grass in background to demonstrate pimms cake recipe.
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4.88 from 8 votes

Pimms Cake

A perfect summer sweet treat. A layer cake drenched in Pimms and fresh fruit.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Family Food
Servings: 12 People
Author: Sarah Rossi

Ingredients

  • 350 g Unsalted butter
  • 350 g Caster sugar
  • 6 Free range eggs
  • 350 g Self raising flour
  • 2 Lemons Zest only
  • For the syrup:
  • 300 ml Pimms
  • 100 g Caster sugar
  • For the icing:
  • 150 g Unsalted butter
  • 300 g Icing sugar
  • 2 tsp Lemon extract
  • 100 g Full fat cream cheese Optional
  • To decorate:
  • Half a cucumber sliced and chopped into small pieces
  • 2 Oranges peeled and cut into small pieces
  • 350 g Strawberries hulled and cut into small pieces
  • A handful of small sprigs of mint

Instructions

  • Grease 3 x 7″ round sandwich tins (or 2 x 8″).
  • Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Cream your room temperature butter with your sugar until it’s pale, light and fluffy.
  • Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating really well after each egg. Don’t worry if it starts to look a bit curdled, it’ll all come good.
  • Mix in your flour and lemon zest. If you’ve been using a mixer, do this bit by hand. It helps to keep the sponge light.
  • Spoon into a your tins, smooth out with the back of a spoon. Make a bit of a dip in the middle to account for rising.
  • Bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. You might need to adjust the time by 5 minutes either way depending on your oven.

Make the syrup:

  • Pop the Pimms in a pan with the sugar and bring to the boil. Continue to let it bubble for about 6 or 7 minutes until it has thickened. Allow to cool (it will get thicker as it cools).

Make your icing:

  • Beat your butter until it’s pale, light and fluffy.
  • Beat in your icing sugar, beating for at leave 5 or 10 minutes until very fluffy and pale. 
  • Mix in the lemon extract and cream cheese if using.

Put it together:

  • When your cakes are completely cold, use a carving knife to level them. Just trim the top crust off. This is important, it’s not a waste of cake (taste testing compulsory). If you don’t do this, with a cake this size it will be wonky.
  • Drizzle a couple of dessert spoonfuls of syrup over each layer of sponge cake.
  • Sandwich each layer together with some of your buttercream and some of the fruit (reserving plenty of fruit, and the mint, for the top).
  • Put a dollop of icing on top of the cake and pile on the fruit. Drizzle the remaining syrup and decorate with mint leaves.

Nutrition

Calories: 710kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 171mg | Sodium: 38mg | Potassium: 157mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 68g | Vitamin A: 1210IU | Vitamin C: 39.4mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 0.8mg