From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is probably the most Irish of the recipes I'll be featuring this week. Recipes for porter cake abound, but I wanted to share an authentic version of the cake as it was baked in Irish kitchens a hundred years ago. That took a bit of research. This dense fruitcake is made by using a goodly measures of dried fruit and stout and, while in polite society, it is called porter cake, we all know they are talking about a cake made with Guinness, as true a symbol of the Emerald Isle as is the shamrock or the leprechaun. Harder to divine was why this particular version, which comes from the family of Mary Johnson, was dubbed a Gilroy porter cake. I don't give up easily. It took several phone calls to folks more Irish than me to solve the puzzle, but we got it done. John Gilroy was the artist who designed the early advertising campaigns for Guinness and the recipe for this cake was included in one of his campaign designed to convince folks that "Guinness is good for you!" This is a lovely tea cake if it is allowed to age before it is sliced. I recommend it be made at least 48 hours before serving. I'm posting the recipe exactly as I found it on the website of the Telegraph Media Group. That means some conversion and ingredient replacement is in order. I, of course, used butter in place of margarine and pumpkin pie spice instead of the mixed spice called for in the recipe. You'll notice that no specific temperature is given for baking the cake. I assumed a moderate oven ranged from 350 to 375 degrees and decided to bake the cake at the lower temperature. I think the 3 hours suggested in the recipe is too long and next year I'll cut baking time to 2-1/2 hours. The cake is supposed to crack as it bakes so don't stress when it craters. I'd also suggest using a 9-inch pan to contain the batter. I hope that some of you are into vintage recipes and will give this one a try. Here's the recipe.
