Happy St Patrick’s Day you lovely lot!
I’m fiercely proud of my nationality and even though I grew
up in Northern Ireland and am legally British I will always call myself Irish.
It’s what my passport says and I love that I am from such an amazing country.
Don’t get me wrong, England is pretty amazing – my Mr T is English as are most
of my friends but Ireland holds a special place in my heart.
Each year on St Patrick’s Day I like to make a Guinness
cake. I use Nigella’s recipe but with a few tweaks. Oddly I never had this cake
before I moved away but Guinness reminds me of home. Dad likes to drink it and
it really is one of our national symbols.
Often when I talk to anyone English they associate St
Patrick’s Day with getting drunk and this always angers me. Yes, the Irish like
a drink but there is more to us as a nation than that. Most people get the day
off work, schools close and there are parades and festivities throughout the
country. It’s a day for family and friends to get together to celebrate our
heritage although it has been often joked that the rest of the world make an
even bigger deal out of it that we do!
I love St Patrick’s Day I just wish St George’s Day was
celebrated here in England. It’s a pretty amazing country and its people should
be proud to celebrate that.
Initially I planned to bring this cake into work today but I
made it on Sunday and decided it would make a nice Monday morning treat to
cheer everyone up. I really do love
baking for other people and the smile it puts on their faces.
Guinness Cake
Guinness Cake
250ml Guinness
250g butter
75g cocoa
400g soft dark brown sugar
150ml sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla paste
275g plain flour
2.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Buttercream
200g softened unsalted butter
500g icing sugar
A few tbsp of milk
A few tbsp of caramel
Green sprinkles
- Preheat the oven to 160c (fan)
- Grease and line two 20cm cake tins.
- Melt the butter in a pan with the Guinness.
- Whisk in the cocoa, sugar, sour cream, eggs and vanilla paste.
- Fold in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.
- Divide between 2 tins and bake in the oven for 30mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Leave on a wire rack to cool.
- Beat the butter, icing sugar and milk on a high speed until pale and fluffy.
- Transfer into a piping bag.
- Place on layer of sponge on a plate then pipe blobs of buttercream all over the top.
- Put the caramel in a piping bag and drizzle across the buttercream
- Place the second layer of sponge on top, repeat the buttercream piping and scatter over the green sprinkles.
Enjoy!
Have a lovely St Patrick’s Day wherever you are and whatever
you do.
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