Belgian Beer Cake

This is the week all the bigger retailers have started rolling out Christmas.  At this point it's a tentative affair; a few mince pies, some puddings, a few cards. The real business doesn't start until after Halloween by which time I guess many of us who work in retail are beginning to get a little bit bored by it (or maybe it's just me). This time of year is sort of right for it though, now is the time to be thinking of making all the bits that need to mature - chutney, mincemeat, and soon enough Christmas cakes and puddings. Which is why I'm the proud new owner of two 6 inch cake tins and about 20 kilos of dried fruit. 

The cake tins needed a trial run (if you're interested the fairly standard for an 8 inch tin cake mix I use is just enough to fill three 5 inch tins, and now two 6 inch tins - oh, the dynamic range of possibilities...) and the spiced brown beer cake from A Taste of Belgium has seemed like a good idea for a while. It was a very good idea, though I had to make a few changes to accommodate the ingredients I had.

After buttering the appropriate tins, lining the bottom of them, and pre heating the oven to 180 degrees C beat 175g of butter with 225g dark brown sugar until light and fluffy then beat in 4 eggs, 1 at a time, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Next stir in 150g of Rye flour, 150g of plain flour, half a teaspoon of ginger and half a teaspoon of cinnamon, and then a whole teaspoon of baking powder along with half a teaspoon of salt. After that add 150g of currents or raisins, 80g of dried apricots cut into slivers, 100g of dried cherries, and 100g of chopped walnuts. Finally add quarter of a cup of dark belgian Beer. Bake for about an hour or until done.