You may have heard. We had a little snow here around Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. A little ice, too. Many of us were stuck inside our homes for a few days and thousands were stuck on the roads in their cars overnight. To say it was a mess is an understatement.
So what do you do when you’re stuck at home? Well, I read cookbooks. My favorite new-to-me cookbook is Irish Traditional Cooking by Darina Allen. It’s more than a cookbook, honestly, it’s something of an encyclopedia. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this volume is all the historical information she gives on the recipes. Take this Mr. Guinness’ Cake for instance. Ms. Allen says that the recipe appeared as part of a Guinness advertisement many years ago. She quotes the ad as saying:
“Over the past couple of centuries, our beer has acquired a modest reputation, but our cake is still little known. This seems a pity, for one enthusiast has described it as like eating dreams.”
Most people will recognize the recipe as being similar to an American fruitcake with its candied fruits and nuts. However, the taste is all its own. The Guinness in the batter and poured over the finished cake takes this recipe to another level all together. Also, it’s a perfect way to use up all that leftover candied orange and lemon peel you always have after Christmas!
Mr. Guinness' Cake - an Irish fruitcake with lots of Guinness Click To Tweet
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease a 7-inch round, deep springform cake pan. Cut a piece of parchment or waxed paper to fit the inside bottom of the pan. Grease the paper as well.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light. Gradually beat in the eggs.
Sift the flour and spice together. Gently fold it into the mixture.
Add the dark and golden raisins, orange and lemon peel, and pecans. Mix well together.
Stir 4 tblsp. of the Guinness into the mixture.
Turn the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour. Reduce the heat to 300 and continue cooking for another 1 1/2 hours.
Remove from the oven and let stand on a wire rack until completely cooled.
Remove the cake from the pan. Prick the base of the cake all over with a skewer. Spoon over the remaining 4-8 tblsp. of Guinness.
Wrap the cake snugly in waxed paper and place in a sealed container or Ziploc bag. Refrigerate for one week before serving.
Enjoy!
This recipe from "Irish Traditional Cooking" by Darina Allen is similar to an American fruitcake. Full of tasty candied fruit, raisins, and nuts, the cake is doused with Guinness and set aside to age for one week before serving. All text and photographs on Never Enough Thyme are copyright protected. Please do not use any material from this site without obtaining prior permission. If you'd like to post this recipe on your site, please create your own original photographs and either re-write the recipe in your own words or link to this post.
Mr. Guinness’ Cake
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
More traditional Irish recipes you might enjoy:
- Boxty from Irish Abroad
- Colcannon from Your Irish
- Dublin Coddle from Irish Abroad
- Irish Soda Bread from Your Irish
- Barmbrack from About.com
- Buttermilk Scones from Ireland’s Eye
- Traditional Irish Stew from About.com
What I was up to…
- One year ago: Cheese Fondue
- Two years ago: Date Nut Oatmeal
- Three years ago: Peas with Lettuce
- Four years ago: Neena’s Company Chicken
- Five years ago: Cheese Grits
I do not own a springform pan that deep. What do you recommend as a substitute?
Looks great.
Miss P
I’m sure you could cook this cake in a tube or bundt pan. However, I’m also pretty sure the cooking time would be shorter. I haven’t tried it so I can’t give accurate timing. I actually ordered a 7″ springform pan just so I could make this cake according to the recipe :-)
What an awesome cake! I love that you poured more Guinness over the top :)
It is pretty darned awesome, Sues! The Guinness gives it a really wonderful flavor. And, just by the way, it’s poured on the *bottom* of the cake actually ;-)
Lana this really looks good and the beer would definitely give it a wonderful flavor. My daughter-in-law hales from Ireland and she will be surprised when I present her with this cake. I do have the 7″ pan but not the candied fruit. Hopefully, there will still be some in the store left from Christmas. :)
Pat – I hope your daughter-in-law enjoys the cake! You can order the candied fruit online from King Arthur Flour year round if you need to.
Guinness is my all time favorite beer, a cake with the delicious beer sounds perfect to me! I have never heard of the recipe, but saved it on Pinterest to definitely make! Your cake looks so beautiful! What a perfect recipe to make when stuck in the house on a chilly day! Hugs, Terra
We always have Guinness in our fridge, Terra. I guess it’s my Irish roots but I just love to use it in cooking. I do hope you have a chance to try this cake one day. It’s most definitely delicious.
oh Lordy Lana, that ice storm hit us too with a good wallop way down here on the coast, it was something else…
your cake reminds me of the whiskey cakes my family made, as I remember it was mostly pecans and soaked with lots of whiskey and carried a wallop too… similar to Lane Cake but without icing
A cake full fruit and doused with whiskey is a very hard thing to beat, isn’t it? I do love a good Lane Cake and you reminded me that I haven’t made one in a long, long time! We’re about to get a repeat of that winter weather in the next few days. Wish us luck!
Looks amazing, Lana! There’s a whole lot of goodness baked into that cake. Thanks for sharing. HUGS!!
Yes there is, Kelly! It’s just packed full of good stuff.
Great cake! I was mesmerized by the photos of Atlanta with snow…the traffic issues…ouch!!!