A Guinness cake

Now Guinness: there's something I grew to love. Not keen? Try this cake. It's rich and malty. This recipe is in my handwriting. I think I was nine or tens and had probably just cooked this. The inviting picture above --ooh: it's 10 a.m.: is that too early for a pint of the dark stuff?-- is by Nifty at www.flick'r.com Thank you!

240g unsalted butter
240g soft brown sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
300g plain flour
2 level teaspoons of mixed spice
240g seedless raisins
240g sultanas
120g mixed peel
120 chopped walnuts
8-12 tablespooons of Guinness.

Cream the butter and the sugar together -- it needs to be light and creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Fold in the flour and mixed spice. Add the raisins, sultanas, mixed peel and walnuts. Mix well together. Stir 4 tablespoons of Guinness into the mixture and stir to a soft dropping consistency. Turn the mixture into a greased 7 inch round cake tin and bake in a moderate oven for 1 hour. Then reduce the heat to cool (so down from Gas 3 to 2 or 160 to 150) and cook for another one and a half hours. Out it comes (do the trick with the skewer) and leave it to cool.

When your lovely cake is cool, remove it from the tin, prick the base with a skewer and spoon over the remaining Guinness.

I see that my mother has written a footnote to the recipe: "This cake is improved if kept for one week before eating." And, like the previous recipe for mincemeat cake, it's the sort of thing that keeps well. Probably higher in iron than your average cake,too, so I expect it would be healthier for you to have two slices.