Irish Guinness Cake...

Cakes rich in fruit have always been popular in Ireland. One favorite variation on the fruitcake theme was the "porter cake". Since Ireland had an active porter tradition of it's own before Guinness came on the scene, it was only a matter of time before it made its way into the local fruitcakes, and the tradition very quickly spread downcountry.

There are hundreds of porter cake recipes across Ireland. Most of them now call for Guinness since porter is harder to find.

Have ready a 9-inch springform pan, or a 9-inch round or square pan with high sides
(3 inches high or so).

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup butter or margarine, cut into cubes
1 cup seedless raisins
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup finely chopped citron, candied orange or lemon peel
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 3/4 cups soft dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2/3 cups Guinness or other stout
4 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 325° F / 160° C.

Line the bottom and sides of the cake pan with waxed paper (butter the sides a little to help the wax paper stick), and brush with a little melted butter or margarine.

Sift the flour and spices and half the baking soda together into a large bowl or food processor with the metal blade fitted. Mix well or pulse until combined. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, or pulse, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the fruit, lemon rind and sugar, and stir or pulse to combine. (If using the food processor, you can pulse the mixture a little more to chop the fruit more finely.)

Add the beaten egg to the mixture and mix or pulse briefly again. Dissolve the remaining baking soda in the Guinness; then add this to the mixture as well and stir or pulse until well combined.

Pour (or scrape) the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Then lower the temperature to 300°F / 150° C, cover the top of the cake loosely with a sheet of waxed paper, and bake for a further 1 1/2 hours.

The cake should be a deep brown color and firm to the touch when finished. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely in its pan before turning it out and peeling off the waxed paper. When it's out, dust the top with confectioners' sugar or icing sugar.

This cake keeps very well in an airtight container for a week and also freezes well. Some like to pierce it with a knife and "feed" it a little more Guinness before serving, say a few teaspoons full. Don't overdo this, you don't want the cake to fall apart.

Serve it with fresh unsweetened whipped cream.