Thursday 29 December 2016

The Twelve Bakes Of Christmas #4 Porter Cake




Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a slice of fruitcake, eaten on its own or with a nice plate of cheeses. This one foregoes the usual festive icing, which you can add if you want, and has a moist richness to it that Santa would slay for.

175g Butter
450g Mixed Fruit
Grated Zest & Juice of an Orange
175g Light Muscovado Sugar
200ml of Stout, I wanted to use Harviestoun brewery's Ola Dubh, but couldn't get it and had to use Guinness instead
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
3 Eggs Beaten
300g Plain Flour
2 tsp Mixed Spice

Topping
2tbsp Flaked Almonds
2tbsp Demerara Sugar

1. Butter & line a 20cm Round Cake Tin.
2. Put the butter, dried fruit, orange zest, orange juice, stout and sugar in a pan
3. Slowly bring it to the boil, stirring then simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Cool for 10 minutes then stir in the Bicarbonate of Soda, which should get it fizzing like Dr Jeckyll's potion
5. Sift in the flour and spice then stir in the beaten eggs, mixing well.
6. Pour into the prepared tin and scatter on the topping.
7. bake at 150C for an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half.
8. Leave in the tin to cool for another 15 minutes
9. Turn it out and put it on a wire rack to cool.

Try and leave it in a cake tin for a couple of days before eating, this will improve its flavour and make it even scrummier. A nice one to bake in readiness for New Years Eve.

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