Gin continues to have a moment and at Edinburgh Foody, we continue to enjoy it. Teasmith is a Scottish premium gin with a twist. They asked us if we wanted to try it and maybe cook something with it. We said yes!
As the name hints, tea is one of the central botanicals. It blends with juniper, orange peel, licorace root and grains of paradise (which I was excited to see on GBBO last week) to create a gin with “clarity, simplicity and confidence”.
When the sample arrived on my desk I was very excited. Inside a small box were two exquisite small bottles. Not quite enough to experiment with but enough to have one good taste and to…hm, make what? Inspred by a crisp G&T, I decided on cake. REcipe below. I’m afraid there wasn’t enough gin for the rest of the team: one drink and one iced cake and I was out. Sorry, friends! If it’s any comfort, I really enjoyed Teasmith.
On its own, Teasmith has slight sweetness and a clear, citrussy flavour with background juniper warmth. With tonic (I used Fevertree) it becomes a little deeper but stays clean and satisfying. Teasmith’s perfect serve is 1:4 gin and Fevertree decorated with a sprig of mint to enhance the cool hint the tea adds.
- 1-2 teabags Earl Grey tea
- 270 grams hot water
- 350 grams plain flour
- 225 grams caster sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp bicoarbonate of soda
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 40 grams syrup
- 90 grams oil (almond or vegetable)
- 30 ml Teasmith gin
- 200 ml icing sugar
- Preheat the oven to 180C (200C if not fan).
- Boil the water and pour into a measuring jug.
- Steep the teabags in the water. The tea should be fairly strong but not so bitter that the bergamot flavour is lost.
- Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add the lemon juice to the water.
- Put the measuring jug on your scales and measure out syrup and oil.
- Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir quickly until smooth.
- Pour into a cake tin (I used around 26 cm silicon one).
- Cook in oven for 35-45 minutes. It is done when an inserted tooth pick comes out dry and the top is a deep golden brown.
- Let dry completely before adding icing.
- Measure out a volume of icing sugar into a bowl.
- Add gin in three parts and stir until the icing is smooth but not to thin. Add more icing sugar or gin until you have the texture you want.
- When the cake is cool, cover the top in icing and sprinkle with grated lemon peel.
Teasmith Gin
Twitter: @the_teasmith | Instagram: @the_teasmith | Facebook: /teasmithgin
Caroline received samples courtesy of The Teasmith.