Porter Cake

Makes 20 or more slices

This boiled fruitcake has a soft texture and layers of spicy fruity flavour. I’ve added dark chocolate for richness — though not a traditional ingredient in a true Irish porter cake — and golden raisins because they are gorgeously sweet and juicy. The cake will keep well for about two weeks wrapped first in baking (parchment) paper then tin foil and stored in an airtight container.

Ingredients

Cake

• 100 g (3–4 oz) currants
• 200 g (7 oz) sultanas (or use golden raisins)
• 100 g (3–4 oz) pitted prunes, chopped
• 50 g (1¾ oz) mixed peel
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 190 g (about 6 oz) soft brown sugar
• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 200 ml (about 7 fl oz) porter, stout, or Guinness
• 175 g (6 oz) butter
• 100 g (3–4 oz) dark chocolate (75% cacao), roughly chopped
• 100 ml (about 3½ fl oz) water
• 300 g (about 10 oz) high-grade flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Large pinch of salt
• 3 medium (size 6) free-range eggs, lightly beaten

Topping

• 70 g (2–3 oz) slivered almonds
• 2 Tbsp soft brown sugar
• ¼ tsp mixed spice
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Put fruit, spices, brown sugar, lemon zest and juice and porter in a large stainless-steel saucepan and leave for 1 hour (or up to 24 hours), stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F), positioning a shelf in the bottom half of the oven.

Line the sides and the bottom of a 23 cm (9 in) deep springform cake tin with a double thickness of baking (parchment) paper.

Add butter, chocolate and water to fruit mixture and set pan over a gentle heat.

Slowly bring to a gentle bubble, stirring often, then lower heat and cook very gently for 10 minutes. Cool.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Stir into fruit mixture with beaten eggs. The mixture should be quite sloppy (if you have bubbled it away too fiercely, and the batter is thick and clinging to the spoon, thin it down with a little water). Pour batter into tin and smooth the top. Mix topping ingredients together and scatter over the top of the cake, pressing in gently.

Bake cake for about 1¼ hours, until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean (drape the top of the cake with tin foil if it starts to brown too quickly). Cool cake in the tin for 20–30 minutes, then unclip it and remove base of tin, leaving paper intact. Cool on a cake rack. If storing the cake, leave baking paper around cake, otherwise remove it before slicing.

Recipe Notes: Mixed spice is a mix of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger and coriander, or any other combinations of spice and is popular in baking.