Ireland: Porter Cake (March 13, 2008)

Porter was (and is) a style of dark beer which began to be brewed in England and Ireland in the mid-1700's. The stout style now exemplified by Guinness was closely linked to it: indeed, Guinness was originally marketed as a porter before having its name changed to "Extra Stout". The only porter being brewed in Ireland now, however, is the "Plain" porter (as in the famous line from Flann O' Brien's "The Workman's Friend", A pint of plain is your only man) that comes from the Porterhouse group of brewpubs in Dublin. (For more information about the intertwined history of porter and stout, see the Porter pages at Wikipedia and the BeerAdvocate website.)

Somewhere along the line in the 1800's, it occurred to somebody in Ireland that porter would make a good addition to the robust dark flavor of the standard fruitcake: and so porter cake was born. It usually contains, at the very least, raisins or sultanas (golden raisins): often dried candied peel (orange peel, lemon peel, candied pineapple, etc.), and sometimes even glacé cherries, come into the recipe as well. All the alcohol in the porter is of course driven off during the long baking period, resulting in a darkly rich-tasting cake which is another great standby for those who like to wheel out a well-loaded tea trolley.

This cake keeps very well if stored in a cake tin.

Click "read more" for the recipe.

For the cake:

• 1 pound flour

• 1/2 pound butter or baking shortening (but butter works best)
• 1/2 pound sugar
• 1 pound sultanas / golden raisins
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup porter or stout
• 1 rounded teaspoon baking powder
• 2 ounces chopped candied fruit peel
• 1 teaspooon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or apple pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice

Preheat the oven to 350F / 175C and butter a nine-inch springform cake pan / tin.

Sieve together the flour, salt and baking powder (or pulse them a number of times in the food processor). Add the sugar, the nutmeg and the spices and stir / pulse again. Cut in the butter finely using a pastry blender, or else process the butter with the flour mixture until it achieves a fine cornmeal texture. Add the fruit. (For a finer texture, if using a food processor, add about half the fruit and process it along with the flour mixture until finely chopped. Then add the rest of the fruit.)

Beat the eggs together with the stout. In a large bowl, combine the flour with the wet ingredients and stir until well mixed. Spread the mixture in the springform pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 2 1/2 hours at 350F / 175C. Remove the springform and cool the cake on a rack. As soon as it's completely cool, seal in a cake tin or Zip-Loc bag.

(This recipe is part of the 2008 Festival of Traditional Irish Saint Patrick's Day Recipes at EuropeanCuisines.com. For the rest of the recipes, please check the menu at this page.)