Guiness Peel Cake

My favorite cake to bake in Lucinda’s Wood Cake Boxes is a Guinness Peel Cake. It’s a dense, fruity cake with a spicy flavor. A creamy stout gives the cake a bold flavor and is a perfect counterpoint to the fruit. I use Guinness, but feel free to use any stout you enjoy drinking. The cake calls for a total of three cups of fruit and peel. Once again, you can use your personal preference. The recipe calls for a cup of rasins, sultanas, and peel. Recently Dole and Trader Joe’s have been selling a premium raisin blend with several different varieties of raisins. The mix of plump, multicolored fruits works nicely here. Quatre-épices, “four spices,” is a French blend that gives a complex flavor. The best single substitute would be allspice or cinnamon.

Guiness Peel Cake

1 bottle (12 oz.) Guinness stout
1 cup raisins
1 cup sultanas
1 cup mixed fruit peel

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups flour + dredging flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon quatre-épices or allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Soak fruit and peel in the stout at least 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line the cake box with parchment paper, and lightly oil the paper.

Drain the mixture through a colander or strainer with a wide mesh, reserving the stout.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Mix dry ingredients together and add to the butter and eggs in small batches until the batter is smooth.

Add the reserved stout.

Dredge the drained fruit and peel, boldly. Coat fruit completely with flour but don’t add extra, loose flour.

Fold the dredged fruit gently into the batter.

Pour into lined cake box and bake for 1 hour 45 minutes, until firm in the center.

Enjoy!