I can’t let St Patrick’s Day get too far past without a shout out to my friend Eithne. She gave me this recipe in the early 80s and I make it every year. This year I tried to find it online and discovered that it doesn’t exist there, at least not that I could find. When she gave it to me—off the top of her head, she told me— that it was a “family recipe.”
I really love this stuff. And it’s particularly good with brie cheese on it.
Recipe follows
Guinness Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
It’s best to use a scale for measuring here. I have used dry measures and it worked but if you have your scale handy and a large processor it’s a lot easier.
1 pound dried fruit chopped well. I used cherries, dates, prunes and white raisins. Anything works.
1 cup walnut pieces
12 oz Guinness (a small bottle)
Pour over fruit and let sit.
Into the bowl of a processor put:
1 lb flour
1/2 lb brown sugar
2 TB cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
And then process briefly to combine.