Guinness Fruit Cake

Slow cooker lamb casserole

Beef, Bacon and Guinness Casserole

If there is one drink that is associated with Ireland it's got be Guinness. There are other Irish stouts, the cream liqueurs made famous by Baileys plus a variety of whiskeys but Guinness would top the Family Fortunes' poll. If you're not a fan of the black stuff then the best way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day is to stick in some cooking. This is all the more appropriate if once the middle of March comes and the sky seems constantly full of snow; a hearty and warming casserole will do the trick.

I cook this meal in my slow cooker but if you don't have a slow cooker fear not as it is really a very easy recipe as it all goes in the dish and then cooked; so I have included the timings if you wish to cook it in the oven. One of my slow cooker tips is if you think you will be out too long even if you set it on 'low' then use a timer switch.

Since beef isn't the cheapest food item I used half beef and half cooking bacon (usually has some smoked bacon in for flavour). You can vary the quantities but don't put more than 50% bacon in as this will overpower the taste of the beef. As there is quite a bit of bacon in the recipe I don't put any extra salt in but if you think it needs more then add according to personal taste. The addition of caster sugar is to counter the bitterness of the Guinness so if you use a sweeter stout or beer you may want to leave the sugar out.

This recipes uses half a bottle of Guinness so the question is what do you do with the rest of it? You could raise a glass to St. Patrick and drink it with the meal. Alternatively if you have a number of guests make double or just make double anyway and freeze the second portion. A nice way to round off the meal would be to finish off with a slice of Chocolate Guinness Cake, which rather conveniently uses half a bottle of Guinness.

Ingredients

12oz (340g) Braising or stewing steak, diced

12oz (340g) Cooking bacon, diced

1 Large onion, sliced or 8 whole small onions or shallots

2 Garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp (5ml) Mustard (I used Dijon but English or French would be fine)

1 tsp (5ml) Creamed horseradish

1 tbsp (15ml) Caster sugar

½ pint (300ml) Beef stock

½ bottle (250ml) Guinness

If required to thicken use either 1tbsp (15ml) cornflour mixed with 1tbsp (15ml) water or add some instant gravy granules.

Serve with Champ and vegetables of your choice

4 Large potatoes, peeled and diced

1bunch Spring onions (scallions), chopped

¼ pint (150ml) Double cream or milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Method 

1. Pre-heat the slow cooker to high or if using an oven 170°C/Gas Mark 3

2. Put all the casserole ingredients except the cornflour/gravy granules in the slow cooker or casserole dish.

3. Leave to cook on low for 7-9 hours, on high for 4-6 hours or in the oven for 1¼ hours. That is it – really!

4. Turn off the slow cooker or oven while you prepare the Champ. If you think the casserole needs thickening do so now. Keep the slow cooker dish covered and on the stand or the dish in the oven.

5. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and then cook until the potatoes are tender – around 20 minutes.

6. Drain the potatoes and return to the pan.

7. Over a low heat mash the potatoes and then mix in the spring onions and the cream or milk. Add any seasonings required. Heat through gently but do not boil.

8. Serve with the casserole and vegetables.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Along with the cake making and general cooking I have several other interests, one of which is cycling. If you're not into the two wheeled thing then you may not realise that cyclists like nothing better than going out for a ride, exerting as much energy as possible (not a great deal in my case) and then collapsing in a café to eat vast quantities of cake. Of course there are many varieties of cake but one I hadn't heard of until I got into cycling was Chocolate Guinness Cake. One cycling friend of mine made a couple as her wedding cake and has said it the easiest cake she knows how to make. I would disagree with that as an all-in Victoria Sponge would top that category for me. However, I would say it is a very forgiving cake and one you can mess about with the quantities a bit.

Being a non-drinker I've always been deeply suspicious of any alcohol in cooking as I can usually still taste it and that's the bit I really don't like! I put off making one until I had the pleasure of tasting one at a Clandestine Cake Club meeting. The addition of Guinness in this recipe though really brings out the flavour of the chocolate despite the relatively small amounts of cocoa in the recipe for the size of the cake. I don't like dark chocolate but I will go out on limb and say this is the most intensely chocolate flavoured cake I have ever eaten.

I bought a 500ml bottle of Guinness for this recipe after deciding against the smaller Foreign Export at 7.5%! There's no reason why you shouldn't buy another brand of stout except in my case this was the only one my local supermarket was offering. I have heard that Newcastle Brown Ale makes an excellent alternative and gives it a sweeter edge. Other people have simply put in another beer of their choice. I have to say they all smell the same to me (revolting) so I couldn't really advise in this matter. As the recipe uses exactly half a bottle of Guinness you have a choice of what to do with the rest. Obviously you could just neck it but that isn't really an option for me. There is the option of making two because un-frosted it freezes well. My half bottle will though be going into a Beef, Bacon and Guinness Casserole to make the perfect St. Patrick's Day combo.

The most famous Chocolate Guinness Cake recipe is by Nigella Lawson but I've added a few tweaks of my own. Sadly, the budget at Jibber Jabber Towers isn't as big as the one at Casa Lawson so my suggestions are of the penny pinching variety. I know Nigella wouldn't approve; in fact I reckon she would be horrified. However, I think if she had the choice of cake or no cake I'm sure that she would go for the cake option.

Normally for the mere thought of mixing imperial and metric measures I would be thrown out of the cake bakers circle but as I said before this is a cake that allows for a bit of give and take. I've listed the ingredients in both imperial and metric measures but let's just say my measuring jug has ¼ pint marked on it but not 150ml...

As the original recipe was made 'famous' by Nigella Lawson and is of the chocolate variety I am putting this forward for this month's We Should Cocoa which is hosted jointly by Chocolate Log Blog and Chocolate Teapot. The guest host for this round is The KitchenMaid who has decided that the theme should be to share a famous chocolate recipe.

You will need a 9in (23cm) round tin – I use a springform tin as it makes it easier to get the cake out of the tin. I also line tins with reusable non-stick liners so if you don't you will need to grease or use parchment paper.

Ingredients

9 fl oz (250ml) Guinness or Stout – Don't measure the head!

9oz (250g) Baking Spread

2.5oz (75g) Cocoa

14oz (400g) Caster Sugar

¼ pint (150ml) Plain natural yogurt

1 Large egg

1 tbsp (15ml) Vanilla extract

10oz (275g) Plain Flour

2½ tsp (12.5 ml) Bicarbonate of soda

Topping

10.5oz (300g) Cream cheese

5oz (125g) Icing sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4.

2. In a large saucepan pour in the stout and add the baking spread in small pieces (it makes it quicker and easier to melt).

3. Heat the mixture gently until the fat has melted and then add the cocoa and sugar. Stir in well.

4. In a separate bowl beat together the yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Add this mixture to the large saucepan along with the flour and bicarbonate of soda.

5. Give the mixture a good beat so all the ingredients are combined. It should look like the thickest, most indulgent hot chocolate you would ever want to drink.

6. In the prepared tin pour in the mixture. Remember this has a lot of liquid in it so it will be more of a batter rather than something you can spoon into the tin.

7. Cook for around 45-55 minutes. Once baked due to the moistness of the cake leave in the tin to cool completely but place the tin onto a wire cooling rack.

8. Once the cake is cold prepare the topping.

9. In a large bowl beat the cream cheese with a fork so it becomes quite loose and smooth.

10. Sift the icing sugar unto the cream cheese and beat together well until all the icing sugar has been combined.

11. Place on top of the cake and start to smooth all over the top until there is an even layer.

12. Due to the cream cheese topping this cake will need to be stored in the fridge.

Thrift notes

I have substituted some ingredients from the original recipe and left others entirely. This is how much I have saved. Prices quoted are as shown on sainsburys.co.uk on 16 March 2013 (Sainsbury's is my local supermarket so that's why I chose it). The eggs I bought from Iceland have been priced at £1.00 all of this year.

Basics unsalted butter 250g   £1.20  Soft spread 2kg-£3.00                          £0.38

Soured cream 150ml             £0.60  Basics Low Fat Natural Yogurt 500g       £0.45

Free range woodland eggs     £0.46 Iceland Large Free Range                     £0.17

medium x 6 £1.40                             eggs x 6 £1.00

Double cream                        £0.60   Left out                                               £0.00

Totals                                    £2.86                                                     £1.00                                                 

Difference £1.86 plus yogurt left over (it's going in a quiche).