Recipe February 2013: Chocolate Porter Cake

This is a gorgeous rich dark cake which I make using Luckie Ales Porter, you can get it from Luvians in Cupar or St Andrews wine shop but any dark ale will do. The remains of the porter bottle could be used to down a few oysters. Well it was Valentines day!

What you will need

• 250 ml Porter or dark ale.
• 250g butter cut into pieces.
• 75g cocoa powder.
• 400g caster sugar.
• 2 tbsp natural yoghourt.
• 2 eggs.
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract.
• 275g plain flour.
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda.

How to cook

1. Preheat the oven to 180C gas 4 and clingfilm a 23 cm tin.
2. Pour the porter into a large pan with the butter and place over a low heat until the butter melts.
3. Whisk in the sugar and cocoa.
4. Beat the eggs with the yoghourt and vanilla and then add to the Porter pan.
5. Fold in the flour and bicarb.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for an hour or until cooked.
7. Cool on a rack.

Once cooled you can turn it out and serve like that or create a sort of Carrot cake topping with 200g soft cream cheese 130g icing sugar and 120 ml double cream. Whizz together in a food processor and spread on top of the cake.