Irish stout cake
This grown-up, bittersweet bake is made with a rich mixture of stout, chocolate and spices
Serves 12  / 
Prep 20 mins  / 
Cook 1 hour 30 mins

Ingredients

275g local unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
100g bar Coop Irresistible Fairtrade 70% dark chocolate, broken into squares
250ml Irish stout
125g Coop ready to eat dried prunes
225g Coop Fairtrade brown sugar
200g Coop self-raising flour, sieved
25g Coop Fairtrade cocoa powder, sieved
4 local eggs
3 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla essence
85g icing sugar
5 tbsp condensed milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/Gas 4

2. Grease a 21cm round, loose-bottomed cake tin, then line with greaseproof paper

3. Melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the base doesn’t touch the surface

4. When melted, set aside to cool

5. Blend the stout and prunes until smooth, then set aside

6. Place 225g of the butter and the brown sugar, flour, cocoa, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl

7. Beat until smooth, then stir in the chocolate and the prune and stout mixture

8. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, level the surface and bake for 55-65 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre

9. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely

10. While the cake is cooling, beat the rest of the butter and the icing sugar together until creamy, then beat in the condensed milk

11. Cover and chill the frosting until the cake has cooled

12. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake, and serve dusted with the extra cinnamon

Tips

Drink responsibly. For more information visit drinkaware.co.uk