Porter cake

About 15 years ago I had my first slice of chocolate stout cake in a café in Didsbury. It was probably the best cake I'd ever eaten and I once I started baking regularly, I wanted to make one for myself. I've baked this cake many times now, each time with a different stout or porter. It's such a rich, delicious cake and really very simple to make.

A dense Irish cake that is made with dark, rich porter beer and studded with moist fruit.

This sounds like a bread made with beer. Well it is, but it is really a bit of a hybrid between bread and fruitcake, given the ingredients. Traditionally you can use whatever fruit and nuts you have on hand. I tend to use a variety of raisins, flavored Craisins, almonds and walnuts.

Irish Porter Cake is a simple boiled fruit cake made with Irish stout or porter, it's rich and delicious and perfect for St Patrick's Day.

Makes 1 (9-inch) cake

Genoa Cake, full of currants, sultanas, mixed peel, cherries and flavoured with almond and lemon, is a real treat. Even for novice bakers, it not difficult to make at home.

A traditional Irish fruit cake, Porter Cake is spicy with hints of dark porter beer. Enjoy as a lighter Christmas cake or at any time with a cuppa or a glass of something stronger.Use stout if you can't get porter.Well wrapped and kept in a tin, the cake will taste best if left to mature for a couple of days (or even several weeks: see Recipe Notes).

Preheat oven 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Line a 20cm/8" round cake tin with greaseproof paper. Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and mixed spice into a bowl and add the sugar. Rub in the butter and add the fruit and mix. Add the stout to the beaten eggs and add to fruit mixture. Mix well. Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 160˚C/320°F/Gas 3 for a further 90 minutes. Note If top of cake is browning too quickly, cover with a double layer of greaseproof…

My Grandma Sylvia is an expert at making pie crust. Her pie crust is flakey and delicious every time! She taught me the secrets to making a good pie crust, and I have attached her recipe below! Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions! *Pie crust takes several hours to complete from start to finish. Plan your time accordingly. But all the effort is SO worth it.

In the past Porter was an English stout widely used all over Ireland for cooking or drinking known also as "the working man's pint". Nowadays Guinness,first brewed in 1759 in Dublin, is commonly used when making this rich fruit cake.