Traditional

For a bit of novelty for the weekend, we thought we'd pass on a family recipe. This porter cake, made with Guinness (or other stout of your choice), turns out moist and not too sweet - rather grown up, in fact. A generous slice and a cup of tea makes most days better. The fact that it's called porter cake might mean that it's a rather old recipe - Guinness Extra Stout was called Extra Superior Porter prior to 1840, though the word has been colloquially used for stout, especially in Dublin, much later than that. It's a cake that keeps very well, though in practice this is hard to test empirically. The recipe's been passed down through a couple of generations (using lined copybooks, letter paper, obsolete word-processors and now Wordpress); due to its provenance it's unapologetically unmetrificated. If you like it, leave us a comment to tell us, and pass it on. Porter Cake ½ lb butter or margarine ½ lb brown sugar 1 lb flour 3 eggs ½ pint stout 1 teaspoon mixed spice 4 oz glacé cherries, halved grated rind of 1 lemon ½ lb currants ½ lb sultanas ½ lb seedless raisins 4 oz mixed peel 1 level teaspoon baking soda Cream fat and sugar, add flour and well-beaten egg alternately till all the egg is added, then add remaining flour and enough stout to make a soft dropping consistency which shakes easily off spoon. Stir in other dry ingredients and lastly add soda dissolved in a teaspoon of milk. Mix well after adding soda. Put in a lined tin and bake in a moderate oven for 2½ hours. We'd all like to wish you a very happy St Patrick's Day weekend. The shop will be closed over the weekend, but we'll be open again at 10.30 on Tuesday March 20th.