Mr. Guinness' Cake - Irish Fruitcake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What two ingredients help fruitcake last longer? ›

Fruitcake lasts longer than most other cakes because it is filled with nuts and candied fruit. It will last even longer if you sprinkle it with a spirit like brandy.

STEP ONE: Gather your ingredients (Sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, all-purpose flour and Guinness (or other Stout beer)). STEP TWO: Add the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla to a large bowl and whisk until fully combined and thickened.

Description. A rich and moist chocolate cake with a boozy secret. Our Guinness Chocolate Cake is filled with two layers of our signature chocolate sponge infused with Guinness beer and a layer of indulgent Baileys ganache and Baileys buttercream which is also used to cover the cake.

The largest fruit cake weighs 4,353 kg (9,596 lb 11 oz) and was achieved by Dr. Fabrizio Sepe (Italy) in Hodenhagen, Germany on 24 May 2014. The cake was made of strawberies, tangerines, peaches and ananas. A total of 440 trays were baked, 20 people worked 250 hours to prepare it.

However, traditional Christmas fruitcake or pudding is made with fruit that has been soaked in spirit (usually brandy and 50 ml will be sufficient for a cake to serve 20). Rum or whisky are possible alternatives. The alcohol evaporates in the cooking process but the flavour remains.

Fruitcake with alcohol can last years, and in some rare cases, it can last decades. For those looking to prepare fruitcakes with alcohol for storage, you'll want to make sure to brush the fruitcake with alcohol fairly consistently across its time in storage.

Generally if a cake sinks in the centre it is not quite cooked properly. It is possible that if you checked the cake too early then a gust of cold air from the opening and closing of the oven door could have caused the undercooked centre to sink back.

The heat evaporates the liquid (and cooks off the alcohol), but leaves the flavor. We also do this with champagne in my mimosa cupcakes and champagne frosting.

Unless there is a true alcohol allergy, this Guinness cake should be OK for children to eat. Much of the alcohol evaporates during the baking process.

The mixture for my chocolate Guinness cake contains butter (I usually use a baking spread in the sponge, but not for the frosting!), the Guinness itself, cocoa powder, light brown soft sugar, whole milk (never use less than whole milk!), eggs, plain flour and bicarb.

What is a substitute for Guinness in a cake? ›

What is a substitute for Guinness stout in baking? Try root beer as a substitute for beer in this recipe! The rich flavors of the soda combine with the chocolate really well.

Mushroom stock. For recipes calling for dark beers (porter, stout) mushroom stock will work in place of Guinness or other dark beers. Unless you're baking: A dark, nonalcoholic variety should be used instead of dark beer in baked goods like stout cake and beer bread.

Fruitcakes were so rich, they were considered sinful and were outlawed in Europe in the early 18th century. Restrictions eased later in the century.

Jenkins, a low-level employee at the city's famed fruitcake company, the Collin Street Bakery, embezzled $17 million from 2004 to 2013, spending the money on cars, trips, watches, and jewelry—all so that he could keep up appearances with the upper crust of his town of 24,000.

Nowadays fruitcakes are a holiday delicacy still prized for their long-lasting freshness. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these seemingly indestructible pastries typically stay fresh for six months in the pantry and up to a year when refrigerated.

If you enjoy a slice of fruitcake maybe every other day, our medium-term storage option is for you! We recommend wrapping your fruitcake in plastic wrap before placing it in an airtight container. Then, place that container in the fridge. Doing this can ensure your fruitcake stays fresh for up to two months.

The fruit in a fruitcake is often dried instead of fresh, which reduces moisture and creates this dessert's notoriously dry texture. This, along with the high sugar content, sucks up much of the water that bacteria need to survive.

For the home baker extending shelf life by a few days can be achieved by adding glycerine or golden syrup to the cake batter. If you type in the search box 'lengthening the shelf life of cakes' and 'shelf life' you'll see some answers there. Other preservatives are Sorbic Acid and Potassium Sorbate.

Storing a Fruitcake

Once a fruitcake has been aged it can be eaten or gifted. Otherwise, store it tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. Fruitcakes soaked in liquor can last for months or even years if you periodically add more liquor. Since alcohol kills bacteria, it slows down the spoiling process.