Ingredients
Fruit
- 500 gmixed dried fruit: sultanas, raisins, currants
- 100 gmixed peel
- 100 gglacé cherries, halved
- 300 mlporter or stout
Cake
- 225 gbutter, softened
- 225 gdark brown sugar
- 3eggs
- 350 gplain flour
- 1 tspbaking powder
- 1 tspmixed spice
- 1 tspground cinnamon
- ½ tspgrated nutmeg
- grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
Optional
- 100 gchopped walnuts
- extra stout, for feeding
To serve
- sliced thick, with butter
Directions
- Soak the dried fruit and peel in the porter overnight, covered. The fruit plumps up and takes on the stout, and unsoaked fruit draws moisture out of the cake and burns at the edges. Use a real porter or a stout with character rather than a light lager. Cream the butter and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy, which takes a good 5 minutes.
- Beat it properly. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour with each. The flour stops the mixture curdling, which a heavy fruit cake batter is prone to. Sift the flour with the baking powder and all the spices. Fold the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture with the citrus zest.
- Toss the fruit in a spoonful of the flour first, which stops it sinking to the bottom of the tin. Fold in the chopped walnuts if you are using them. The batter should be thick and dropping rather than pourable.
- Line a 23 cm round tin with a double layer of baking paper, standing well above the rim. The double lining and the tall collar protect the outside during a two-hour bake, and without them the edges are dry and dark before the middle is done.
- Bake at 150°C (300°F) for 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes. Low and slow, and do not be tempted to raise the temperature. Cover the top loosely with foil after an hour if it is browning too fast. Test with a skewer, which should come out clean.
- Cool it completely in the tin. Now prick the top all over with a skewer and spoon a little more stout over it if you want to feed it. Wrap it in baking paper and then foil and leave it at least three days before cutting. It keeps for a month or more wrapped, and it goes on improving.
- Serve it in thick slices, plain or spread with butter, which is the Irish way. It was baked in farmhouses for Christmas and for family occasions, and it kept well enough to be made well in advance.
Technique
- It is often baked weeks ahead and fed with a little more stout each week.
- Buttered slices are the traditional serving and it is not iced.
- It travels and posts well, which is why it was a Christmas gift cake.
Substitutions
- Any dark stout or porter.
- Cold black tea in place of stout, for a non-alcoholic version.
Variations
- With whiskey as well as stout.
- Made in a loaf tin.
- With treacle added for a darker cake.
History
An Irish farmhouse cake using porter or stout, traditionally baked for Christmas and family occasions.
Frequently asked questions
What is Porter cake?
Porter cake is a dessert from Ireland: dark fruit cake made with stout, staying moist for weeks. An Irish farmhouse cake using porter or stout, traditionally baked for Christmas and family occasions.
How long does Porter cake take to make?
Porter cake takes 30 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 12 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Porter cake?
Yes, within limits. Any dark stout or porter. Cold black tea in place of stout, for a non-alcoholic version.
What is the most important thing to get right in Porter cake?
Soak the dried fruit and peel in the porter overnight, covered. The fruit plumps up and takes on the stout, and unsoaked fruit draws moisture out of the cake and burns at the edges. Use a real porter or a stout with character rather than a light lager. Cream the butter and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy, which takes a good 5 minutes.
