This is a rich, dark fruit-cake which keeps very well.
The original recipe used porter, a weaker variety of stout, which used to be a very popular working man's pint. However, as porter died out with the advent of bitter and is no longer produced, stout makes an admirable substitute.
RECIPE:
175g butter, plus extra for greasing
450g mixed dried fruit
Grated zest and juice 1 orange
175 g light muscovado sugar
200 ml porter, Guinness or Caffrey's
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 beaten eggs
300 g plain flour
2 tsp mixed spice
FOR THE TOPPING
2 tbsp flaked almonds
2 tbsp Demerara sugar
METHOD:
1 Heat the oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas2. Butter the base of a deep 20 cm round cake tin. Take the butter, dried fruit, orange zest and juice, sugar and porter and pop into a large pan. Gradually bring the contents of the pan to the boil while lightly stirring until the butter has dissolved, then leave to simmer for 15 minutes.
2 Cool it all down for ten minutes, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will foam up, but don't worry, this is normal.
3 Stir the eggs into the pan, then sift in the flour and spice, then mix well. Pour into the prepared tin, smooth the top with the back of a spoon and sprinkle with the flaked almonds and Demerara sugar. Bake for 75-90 minutes. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
Recipe and image courtesy of holidaycottages.co.uk
