Hugo Spritz Loaf Cake
Our Hugo spritz cake is a zesty, elegant and fun dessert inspired by the refreshing floral flavours of the popular Hugo spritz cocktail. Belvoir Farm Elderflower Cordial pairs with mint and lime in the sponge cake, which is soaked with elderflower & prosecco syrup and adorned with a creamy elderflower frosting. This cake is ideal for spring and summer, perfectly capturing the light-hearted, floral essence of this lovely cocktail in cake form.
Ingredients
For the cake:
| 140g | butter (softened) |
| 140g | caster sugar |
| 2 | large eggs |
| 40ml | Belvoir Farm Elderflower Cordial |
| 1 | lime zest |
| 5g | mint leaves |
| 140g | plain flour |
| 1 tsp | baking powder |
| 1/8 tsp | salt |
For the syrup:
| 90ml | Prosecco |
| 45g | caster sugar |
| 45ml | Belvoir Farm Elderflower Cordial |
| 15ml | lime juice |
For the frosting:
| 150g | cream cheese |
| 75ml | double cream |
| 50g | icing sugar |
| 25ml | Belvoir Farm Elderflower Cordial |
Method
To Make
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F and grease & line a 1lb loaf tin with baking parchment.
- Cream the butter and sugar together using electric beaters until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time and beat in.
- Beat in the elderflower cordial (don’t worry if it looks split, this is normal).
- Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and fold in until smooth and no streaks of flour remain.
- Finely chop the mint and fold into the cake batter along with the grated lime zest.
- Spoon into the loaf tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Whilst the cake is cooking prepare the syrup: Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan and heat to dissolve the sugar then turn up the heat and let it boil until the liquid has reduced by half. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the syrup for decorating the cake.
- As soon as the cake is baked use a cocktail pick to poke holes into the top of the cake. Spoon the warm syrup over the cake and then leave the cake to cool in the tin.
- When the cake is cold make the filling: Put the cream into a bowl and sieve in the icing sugar. Add the elderflower cordial and beat until beginning to thicken. Stir the cream cheese, add to the other ingredients and beat until smooth and thick enough to pipe.
- Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a wide star nozzle and pipe rosettes onto the top of the cake.
- Drizzle the reserved syrup over the frosting then top with lime zest and fresh mint.
Expert Tips
- Spoon the syrup over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven as it will soak in better than it will do if the cake has cooled.
- You can dollop the frosting onto the top of this cake for a more rustic look.
- Serve this cake with a glass of Hugo spritz alongside it:
- Pour 45ml elderflower liqueur into a large wine glass.
- Add 90ml Prosecco.
- Top with 45ml Soda water.
- Fill your glass with ice.
- Garnish with fresh lime and mint.