Grandad's (Porter) Cake

From my grandmother's notebook:

Nora's Original Recipe

Ingredients: 1 lb. of flour .5 lb. butter or marg. .5 lb. currants .5 lb. sultanas 3/4 lb. brown sugar 1 teaspoon spice rind of a lemon 1/2 tea spoon bread soda 1/4 lb. mixed peel 3 eggs 1/3 of bottle of stout a little sour milk

Method: Put butter and sugar into bowl and mix to ta thick cream then beat the eggs to a fraught and add them slowly. Have your fruit and peel and the other ingredients ready. add them to this. Have your 1/3 stout hated in a saucepan and add it. get a small drop of sour milk and add the bread soda to it. Mix this thoroughly and if still is thick you can add more sour milk. If too thin then add some flour. Grease a large size tin and turn mixture into it. Bake in a moderate oven for at least 2 hours. Don't let the top get ???? or burned

June's Modified Version

Ingredients:

16 oz. AP Flour

8 oz. Unsalted Butter

8 oz. Raisins

8 oz. Golden Sultanas

4 oz. Mixed Peel

6 oz. Quartered Cherries

12 oz. Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp pumpkin spice mix

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Rind of 1 Lemon + 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice

3 Eggs

1 Bottle of Stout (Guinness), Divided into 1/3 (cake) & 2/3 (re-hydrate )

1 Cup of Milk

Because Moms of young kids can never reasonably expect to have more than 10 minutes without interruption I usually break this one down to multiple phases.

Prep & Mise En Place

Take the butter out of the fridge so that it has time to soften.

Measure and prep. all the ingredients.

Combine the raisins and sultanas in a large bowl and add 2/3 of the stout.Let the raisin/sultana mix re-hydrate in the stout for at least an hour.

Line the baking tin with parchment.

Mix it up

Put 1 tbsp. of Lemon Juice in a measuring cup, add Milk to bring it up to the 1 cup mark. Let stand for 5 minutes to sour.

Add the butter and sugar to the mixer and mix to a creamy texture.

If the brown sugar has hardened put it in a bowl, cover it with a wet paper towel and put in the microwave for 20 seconds. Repeat until it's soft enough for the mixer.

Beat the eggs to froth separately and then add them to the mixer. 

Sift in 1/3 of the flour, add some stout, repeat until all of the flour and 1/3 bottle of stout has been added.

Add the fruit, spices, lemon rind and mix.In a small bowl add a tbsp. of sour milk to the baking soda. Mix to liquid and add to mixer.

Bake Bake at 350 degrees.

Start checking at 90 minutes, cover the cake with parchment paper if it starts to get too dark.

Usually done at about 1 hr 45 min.

Allow to cool, then wrap it up and let it sit for a few days before serving.