Pimms Cake

Hands up who wants a slice of this incredible Pimms Cake! This is a gorgeous citrus cake with a Pimm’s drizzle, topped with a cream cheese buttercream and studded with all the iconic Pimm’s fruit. This impressive cake is easy to make and a perfect summer cake for summer events and summer parties. It is also a brilliant showstopper cake to serve during Wimbledon fortnight as a tennis party cake.

Top Questions

What flavours go into a Pimms cake?
What fruit goes in Pimm’s?
How do you make light and fluffy cakes?
What is in Pimm’s?
What gas mark do you cook cakes on?
How do I make the Pimm’s drizzle syrup for the Pimms cake?
What can I serve with this delicious Pimm’s cake?

Why you’ll love this Pimms cake recipe

This Pimm’s cake recipe is on of my favourite summer staples. It’s a light and wonderful sponge, the Pimms drizzle tastes incredible and topped with fruit the cake looks perfect.

A Pimms drizzle cake is so moist, you’ll want to add a drizzle to all of your sponges. The flavour of the Pimms comes through so well and helps to keep the sponge fresh too, win-win.

As this Pimm’s layer cake recipe is so easy to follow, you can easily whip it up when guests are on their way or the sun is shining and you deserve a glass of Pimms.

Ingredients

For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.

Summer Fruits

Decorating this gorgeous Pimms cake with strawberries, oranges and slices of cucumber makes for a wonderfully decorated cake. Sweet strawberries and sharp citrus flavours come together atop this simple sponge.

Pimms

To make the Pimms drizzle for this sponge you will need a healthy amount of Pimms, you can add as much or as little to your drizzle. You can use either branded Pimms or a supermarket’s own brand version.

How to make a Pimms cake – step by step

For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.

Making this Pimms cake is easy. I promise. It looks like an impressive cake but it is straightforward.

You start by creating a basic vanilla cake which you divide between two tins and bake until golden brown. Allow this cake to cool, then level off and slice horizontally in half to make the layers.

Next comes the Pimm’s drizzle syrup.

Take a measure of Pimm’s and add the water and sugar. Add it to a saucepan and on medium heat bring it up to a simmer and allow the mixture to reduce. After a few minutes, the mix will start to thicken up.

Brush the drizzle over each cake layer, allowing the Pimm’s syrup to drizzle through. This will help the cake stay moist and pack in even more of that iconic Pimm’s flavour.

Make the delicious cream cheese buttercream. Definitely lick the bowl when you’re done! Pipe the cream cheese buttercream onto the first layer and smooth over. Add the next cake layer and repeat for all layers.

Finally top the cream cheese buttercream layer with a mix of strawberries, orange slices, cucumber and fresh mint – all the delicious flavours you would find in a glass of a Pimm’s.

Pimms Cake Top Tips

Be wary of making your buttercream too sweet, as there are so many layers to this cake too much of a sweet buttercream could be overpowering.

Leave the leaves on your strawberries, the touches of green look lovely and add a wonderful summer look to your Pimms cake.

A few mint leaves really take this Pimm’s drizzle cake to another level. I highly recommend adding just a couple to your fruity decoration.

Pimm’s Cake Serving Suggestions

Pimm’s drizzle cake is the perfect summer cake in my opinion, it’s light, fruity and looks wonderful next to a glass of Pimms!

You could serve your Pimm’s layer cake with fresh cream in the garden or on its own. It needs no fancy serving as it tastes and looks so wonderful.

Equipment

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2x 8 inch round cake tin

Substitutions and variations

There are a few variations you can make to the Pimms summer cake, such as using a gin to make the drizzle, adding other fruits to the top of your cake or even adding some chocolate.

I added white chocolate shavings to the top of a Pimms cake and it was wonderful!

Storing Pimms cake / Making ahead of time options

As this Pimm’s layer cake is made of a simple sponge cake it will last as long in the cupboard as any sponge, about 5 days at most. But with the Pimms drizzle this cake will stay lovely and moist.

You can make your sponge ahead of time and freeze the layers, wrap them in clingfilm and a final layer of tinfoil. They can stay in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allowing you to make your sponges well in advance and have Pimms cake ready for when summer arrives.

FAQS

What flavours go in to a Pimms cake?

The great part of a Pimm’s cake is the iconic summer flavours. A Pimm’s cake has the delicious flavours including a “delicate combination of herbal botanicals, caramelised orange and warm spices” taken from the Pimm’s website. The Pimm’s flavours are so iconic and combining them into a cake where flavour can really be highlighted is definitely a good idea.

This Pimm’s drizzle cake is soft and light while also packed full of flavour and topped with a creamy but not too sweet but cream and of course all the iconic fruits and herbs you would find in a Pimm’s.

What fruit goes in Pimm’s?

The classic fruit choices to go into a jug of Pimm’s (and a few smaller pieces to decorate the glasses) include;

• Strawberries
• Orange slices
• Lemon slices

Other ingredients that go into Pimm’s have to include;

• Fresh mint
• Cucumber

How do you make light and fluffy cakes?

The best way to get light and fluffy cakes is by creaming the sugar and butter together. You can either cream the butter and sugar together by hand (with a lot of elbow grease) or using a hand or electric mixer. Creaming the butter and sugar together helps trap tiny air bubbles into the mix.

The air bubbles you’re adding through this method of cake making, plus the carbon dioxide released by raising agents in the cake, will expand as they heat up, and the cake will rise making them light and fluffy.

What is in Pimm’s?

Pimm’s is an iconic English brand of alcoholic drink associated with summer. The drink itself is a gin-based fruit cup and the essential summer drink is made by adding lemonade and a mix of cucumber, orange, lemon, fresh mint and fresh strawberries. Pimm’s can be considered a liqueur and is often used in cocktails. Find out more about Pimm’s from their website.

What gas mark do you cook cakes on?

Most of my recipes have ºC oven temperature but I have been asked to include gas mark numbers on too. For most cakes, I preheat the oven to 180°C which is 160°C fan and gas mark 4.

Some people say to use gas mark 5 but I find that too hot to use for cakes. It tends to make the cakes rise too fast and can result in the cakes imploding once they’re out of the oven. I prefer to bake cakes low-and-slower.

How do I make the Pimm’s drizzle syrup for the Pimms cake?

Pimm’s drizzle

Add the Pimm’s, sugar and water to a saucepan set on medium heat. Allow the mixture it to bubble and thicken slightly (it should only take a few minutes). Keep stirring, and remember to give it your full attention as it could bubble over if the saucepan gets too hot.

Once thickened, remove from the heat and set aside.

What can I serve with this delicious Pimm’s cake?

The best things I can think of serving with this Pimm’s cake is of course a tall glass of Pimm’s. That has to be at the top of the list. The Pimm’s cake works so well with summer events and as delicious summer party food. For a summer party, I would serve the Pimm’s cake as the show stopper but I would also include;

Other Pimms Recipes To Try

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Recipe

Pimms Cake

Sisley White

Hands up who wants a slice of this incredible Pimms Cake! This is a gorgeous citrus cake with a Pimm's syrup drizzle, topped with a cream cheese buttercream and studded with all the iconic Pimm's fruit. This impressive cake is easy to make and a perfect summer cake for summer events and summer parties. It is also a brilliant showstopper cake to serve during Wimbledon fortnight as a tennis party cake.

4.75 from 8 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Decorating 45 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Bakes, Cakes, Dessert, Party Food, Sweet Treats

Cuisine American, British, English, International

Servings 16 slices

Calories 765 kcal

Equipment

• 2x 8 inch round cake tin

Ingredients

 

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For the cake

• 500 g (17 .5 oz) unsalted butter (or a baking butter like Stork)
• 450 g (2.25 cups) caster sugar / superfine sugar
• 6 large (6 large) eggs
• 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
• 500 g (4 cups) plain flour / all purpose flour
• small pinch (small pinch) salt
• 0.5 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking powder
• 300 ml (300 ml) semi-skimmed milk

Pimm’s drizzle

• 150 ml (150 ml) Pimm’s
• 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) sugar
• 100 ml (100 ml) water

Cake decorative garnish

• 400 g (14. oz) Strawberries
• 0.5 (0.5) cucumber
• 1 (1) orange
• 30 g (0.5 cups) fresh mint (a handful)

Cream cheese frosting

• 250 g (1.1 cups) unsalted butter
• 300 g (2.5 cups) icing sugar / confectioners sugar
• 340 g (1.5 cups) cream cheese (full fat Philadelphia)
• 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract

Instructions

 

Sponge

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 160ºC fan / 356ºF / gas mark 4.
• Grease and line two 8-inch cake tins with parchment paper.
• Cream together the butter and the sugar until smooth.
• Mix in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
• Sieve in the flour, pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of baking powder.
• Gently stir in the milk.
• Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and bake for around 45-minutes until golden brown. Use a cake tester to make sure the middle is baked through.
• Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.
• Trim to level the tops and slice the two pieces to make 4 equal layers.

Buttercream filling

• In a mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar together to make a smooth buttercream.
• Drain off any excess water in the cream cheese and add it to the buttercream mix along with the vanilla extract.
• Beat again until smooth and pop it in the fridge to set slightly (this is essential if it’s a particularly warm day).

Pimm’s drizzle

• Add the Pimm’s , sugar and water to a saucepan set on a medium heat. Allow the mixture it to bubble and thicken slightly (it should only take a few minutes). Keep stirring, and remember to give it your full attention as it could bubble over if the saucepan gets too hot.
• Once thickened, remove from the heat and set aside.

Putting it all together

• To assemble, take a cake stand or plate and position the first cake layer. Using a pastry brush quickly brush over the Pimm’s drizzle. Be careful to not add too much, this should only be light drizzle.
• Either pipe with a large circular nozzle, the buttercream onto the cake, or use a knife to covering the sponge with a thick layer it on thickly with a knife. You will need a quarter of the buttercream for each layer. Repeat with the remaining layers finishing with a buttercream cream cheese layer on top.
• Pop it somewhere cool or in the fridge until ready to serve (don't leave it in the fridge for more than a few hours. If it's a hot day the fridge will help keep the icing from melting too much before it's served).
• Remove from the fridge for an hour to bring the cake to room temperature.
• Complete the cake, simply add the iconic Pimm’s toppings – strawberries, orange slices, cucumber and some fresh mint leaves.
  

Video

Notes

• Store somewhere cool but not in the fridge if possible once cut.

• You can make the cake ahead of time (1 or 2 days before you need it. Once cool wrap in clingfilm and leave somewhere cool) but leave making the cream cheese buttercream until the day you need it.

• If you have a larger tin you can do this in 2 x 10inch cake tins. It would make the cake bigger and the layers thinner but it would feed more for a summer birthday or summer event.

Nutrition

Calories: 765kcalCarbohydrates: 78gProtein: 8gFat: 48gSaturated Fat: 29gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 195mgSodium: 125mgPotassium: 204mgFiber: 2gSugar: 53gVitamin A: 1685IUVitamin C: 20mgCalcium: 91mgIron: 2mg

Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Keyword alcohol cake, Pimm’s, Pimm’s Cake, Pimm’s layer cake, Pimms cake recipe, Pimms drizzle cake, summer cake

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