Love Cake April 2016 round up

This month's Love Cake has been about not only food but drink. For our theme of I'll drink to that we've been brewing up cups of tea and coffee and also adding in something a little bit stronger. So settle down to read this month's round up but don't forget to make a cuppa first!

Spring had definitely sprung this month with Ania's Passion Fruit and Limoncello Spring Torte. She used her mum's recipe for the sponge which doesn't contain any raising agent but does make three light layers. It is then filled with passion fruit curd and Limoncello before being covered in lemon flavoured Swiss meringue.

If Limoncello isn't your tipple of choice I added a slug of rum to the traditional Melton Hunt Cake. It originates from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire and is rich, dark fruit topped with cherries and almonds.

When they were trying to work out the best flavour combination for a Madeira cake Hollie and Jess decided on Bramble Madeira Cake. This isn't just a pile of berries but a cocktail of gin, lemon juice sugar syrup and a dash of the blackberry liqueur crème de mûre.

For the final cake in our alcohol section we're off to France for Jean's Raspberry and Pink Fizz Bundt Cake. With her house in the Loire Valley Jean added some local sparkling wine to pair with the raspberries. The fizz is in the cake, drizzle and icing.

If you're going to make a chocolate cake for a chocoholic it had better be good so Caroline looked in her Outside Tart bakery book. The result was the the triple layered Chocoholic Birthday with Cadbury Twirl. To kept it lovely and moist the cake contains Coca-Cola and is covered with chocolate sour cream frosting and of course topped with Twirl bars.

To kick off the tea section Kate has been infusing whole chamomile flowers in milk to add to her Chamomile Cake with Salted Honey Buttercream. The lightly flavoured cake is then topped with a salted honey buttercream and chamomile flowers.

Rather than making a brew and adding to the cake Jenny decided to put the tea leaves directly into her cake mix. The result was a Choco Aztec Spiced Tea Cake with Blackberry Cream and added both a fragrant and fruity touch to a sponge cake.

Also trying out some tea in a cake was Shaheen with a Darjeeling Pecan Tea Loaf. Made with sunflower oil and no eggs this vegan cake was flavoured with orange blossom water and marmalade.

I couldn't go a month with a drinks theme without making a tea loaf. The Earl Grey Fruit Tea Loaf Cake has the dried fruit soaked in Earl Grey tea with lemon and honey replacing the sugar.

If you've put the kettle on but tea's not your drink it's time for some coffee. Stuart got his caffeine hit in a cake with his Mocha Cake (or Java Infused Cake with fudgylush choccy frosting). Made for a family gathering it has four layers all filled and topped with the fudgylush frosting.

If you're going to include coffee in a cake you can't discount the classic Coffee and Walnut Cake. Chonnie has been making cakes for a café in Bristol. After a bit a research she discovered what the customers' favourite was and the secret to the perfect coffee and walnut cake.

That's it for this month and thank you to everyone who joined in. I'll be back in a couple of days with May's theme so don't forget to 'sign up' for updates!