Recipes from Brixton Village – Miss South's Foreign Extra Stout Cake

Please note: this post is 93 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

Food blogger Miss South - Ireland bred but Brixton-based -  has shared with us a recipe inspired by Brixton’s Caribbean vibes and by her Irish roots, straight from her book Recipes From Brixton Village.

She put together this recipe thinking of her granny who “would never have seen a bottle of the Nigeria-brewed export Guinness in rural Ireland.” She says “I’m not sure she’d have approved of the strength of it, but she did know a good cake when she saw one.”

Traditional in Northern Ireland, this cake is quick to make but lasts well so you always have some when people drop in. Foreign Extra Stout packs a stronger and more hoppy flavour at 7.5%. Like alcoholic treacle it makes fruit cake something special.

It might not seem like it at first glance, but Ireland and Nigeria have something in common. Both countries love Guinness. Some say the black stuff doesn’t taste right unless it’s brewed in Dublin, but taste the cake and judge for yourself!

Ingredients

• 350g raisins (or mixed dried fruit of your choice) 
• 175g sugar
  115g butter 
• 250ml Guinness Foreign Extra Stout 
• 350g plain flour 
• 1¼ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda 
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice 
• 1 egg, beaten 23cm wide
• 7cm deep springform cake tin

Instructions

1. Put the dried fruit, sugar, butter and Guinness in a saucepan and boil for 20 minutes. This plumps up the fruit and infuses it with flavour.

2. Grease your cake tin well with butter. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Sift the flour in a large bowl and add the bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice.

3. Stir in the boiled fruit and any remaining liquid. Add in the beaten egg and stir until just combined. It will come together like a dough rather than a batter. Put into your tin and smooth the top down.

4. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Check the cake at this stage with a skewer. If it comes out slightly sticky, it needs more time. However, I find the dried fruit on top starts to burn slightly at this stage, so I reduce the heat to 170°C and give it another 15 minutes.

5. Cool the cake on a rack and serve in slices with a strong cuppa. It will keep in a tin for several weeks and actually improves with age as it gets softer and stickier.

Thank you so much for sharing Miss South! And if this inspires you to take to the kitchen, sign up for Cares’ Cake Week, and help us make friendships bloom this spring!

Photo credits: Joby Catto Photography.