Just finished baking some cakes for the county fair...

[badgerpup]

...and me house smells deee-lishus!
Fair isn't until second week of August, but these cakes take time to mature...

Irish Porter Cake

1 cup currants
1 cup lb. raisins
½ cup mixed peel (orange and lemon)
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 tsp.. mixed spice (ginger, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon)
1 cup butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 bottle porter (enuf to make a batter... no oz. given.. guess you gotta know how much porter is vended in a bottle in Ireland...use Guinness)
4 eggs

Sieve the flour and rub in the butter; add the fruit, spice, peel etc.
beat eggs; heat porter and pour it over the soda. Pour porter and eggs over dry ingredients. Mix well and beat for 15 min; bake in a well greased* tin in a moderate oven (350 F/180C) for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

*well-greased is operative term here...this cake can be a bit stubborn about coming out of the pan

Keep for a week before cutting.

Field notes: (or what I learned by experience)
You can adjust the fruit a bit (I used currants, Concord and Sultana raisins, and dried Turkish apricots*). The recipe is fairly forgiving as long as you don’t go overboard.
Since porter wasn’t available, I used a 14.9 oz can of Guinness Stout. This gives you a very runny batter, about the consistency of ‘pancake’ batter. I added about 2 cups of flour to bring it up to the consistency of ‘cake’ batter. I wouldn’t recommend this particular cake for “anyone want to lick the beaters?” however; the batter tastes kind of...well...meaty is the only way I can describe it. Definitely needs to be baked and matured to be at its best.
You won’t need to bake it for anywhere near three hours- about 30-45 minutes is much closer to the mark. Use your nose- it will start to smell done- and a toothpick- it will come out clean.
This cake has an excellent shelf life; keeping it for longer than one week before eating doesn’t hurt it one bit- in fact a 2-3 (foil-wrapped and refrigerated!) week ripening brought no complaints.

* The Turkish apricots are darker and have a richer, more complex flavor than the regular dried apricots. MHO is that for just eating (e.g., trail mix or munchies) the regular dried apricots are best, but for cooking the Turkish ones seem to stand up better.

and....(this one is really special!)
Certosino or Pan Speciale
(aka Bolognese Christmas Cake )
The recipe comes from a 17th century monastery in Bologna, Italy...apparently they were rather famous for this particular treat.

3 oz raisins
2 tblsp rum or brandy
8 oz honey
1 ½ oz butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp whole aniseeds (optional)
10 oz plain wholemeal flour
6 oz cooked sieved apple (Granny Smith or other tart apple)
6 oz roughly chopped mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, any proportions)
2 oz pine nuts
6 oz candied orange and lemon peel and crystallized ginger (any proportions)
2 oz bitter chocolate broken into reasonably small pieces
1 ½ tsp baking soda
apricot jam, extra candied fruit and nuts for decoration

Steep the raisins in brandy or rum for at least ½ hour. Meanwhile, warm the honey with butter and 3 tblsp water, but do NOT allow to boil. Sift the flour and spices into large bowl. Mix in the honey-butter, then add the apple, nuts, peel, chocolate, raisins, brandy or rum, mixing thoroughly.
Dissolve baking soda in a tblsp of warm water and mix it into the dough. Turn it into a cake pan (8" - 9", well-greased, or with a loose bottom (possibly springform)) *and bake in a slow oven at 275 degrees until cake is slightly risen, firm, and cooked through. (Think a toothpick would come in handy for this test). Remove from tin and cool on a rack
Cake can be stored* wrapped in foil or in a freezer. When ready to serve, brush top with apricot jam and decorate with candied fruit/nuts.


Ideally this cake should be allowed to mature for several days (weeks or months, according to the recipe here) before being eaten.


Field notes: This cake takes a LOT of prep...at least it did for me.
I used two ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate and grated it, not realizing that it would melt anyway. Used a fresh apple (rather than apple sauce); peeled and grated it, as well as fresh ginger, since was unable to obtain crystallized ginger at time of baking. Also threw in the last of the currants I had, as well as both golden and dark raisins.
Omitted the aniseeds because I didn’t have any, but if you use them I’d let this cake mature for at least a month or so. It is NOT a ‘sweet’ cake, the flavors are strong, rich, complex, and need time to get acquainted and mellow.

DON’T do what I did the first time I made it and go overboard with fresh orange and lemon zest. Use sparingly, because they can overpower your other flavors.

You probably notice that these cakes can utilize a LOT of dried fruit (just for shitzngiggles I made a Porter Cake using dried apricots, dried plums, both dark and golden raisins and currants), so they can take the place of 'fruitcake' on your War on Christmas bill of fare.
They do not require any extra spritzing with brandy or rum, and all the alcohol used in the making cooks out.


Bon appetit, folks! :hi:

(Wish me luck at the fair!) :bounce:

[Warpy]

1. Porter is a dark beer but considerably lighter than Guinness

I'd suggest using 6 oz. lager and 6 oz. Guinness (or 5 and 5 since the batter was so runny). That means you have the problem of getting rid of the balance and if you can tolerate alcohol, that should be no problem at all and an excellent way to kill time while the cake is baking.

I have a recipe for a rye bread that uses beer as the leavening agent. It's remarkably sweet after baking, but certainly not anything you'd want to eat raw.

I might have to try that porter cake someday.

[badgerpup]

3. If I asked you nicely...

..do you suppose I could have that recipe for rye bread that uses beer?
I do like strong, sturdy, hearty breads that have lots of flavor and texture.
Makes not only for wondrous sammiches but compliments soups as well.

Something very pride-making about serving folks your very own homemade soup and homemade bread...and watching them snarf it down and ask for more...:toast: :9

[hippywife]

2. Those sound fabulous!

But then I'm one of the few, the proud who love and make fruitcake. LOL

Good luck with the fair competition. Ours isn't until September and you're making me think about that now. Luckily I have to much to do all the time or else I'd be trying to compete, too.