Guinness Fruit Cake
By Sally James
A rich, moist and succulent fruit cake that will keep for several months, and improve with age! Made with plump dried fruit, and a cake mix with Guinness and treacle, it’s perfect for Christmas.
INGREDIENTS
- Baking soda
- brown sugar
- Butter
- diced candied ginger or peel
- eggs
- grated rind of 1 orange
- mixed dried fruit
- nutmeg
- allspice and cinnamon
- orange juice or sherry
- plain flour
- treacle (or golden syrup)
- warm Guinness
- whisky
DIRECTIONS
- Cover fruit with orange juice and allow to macerate overnight. Drain well.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and line a 9 or 10 inch cake tin with brown paper or parchment.
- Using electric beaters, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the rind and treacle and beat again until incorporated.
- In a separate large bowl, Combine the Guinness with the baking soda and carefully beat in the eggs.
- Sift the flour and spices together, and gently fold a quarter into the creamed butter and sugar. Add a third of the Guinness mixture, and continue to add remainder of flour and Guinness alternately, ending with flour.
- Stir in the macerated dried fruit and the ginger, and mix well.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, then reduce oven to low then cook for a further 1½ hours or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Take out of oven, immediately sprinkle with the whisky, cover top with a sheet of parchment and then wrap a layer of newspaper and a towel around the cakepan. Allow to cool like this. (This cake is best stored for at least 1 week before eating to allow flavours to develop and will get even better after a month. Store in a sealed container in a cool spot for up to 3 months.)