Iron Maiden Trooper Beer Bundt Cake

So my good friends Sass and Mark are getting hitched. This is wonderful news for two reasons, the first being that they are blissfully happy, the second that their wedding is going to be amazing... They share our love of metal which means there will be no Agadoo, a veto on sugar coated pop and a plethora of storming tunes throughout the day.

There was only one option when making a cake for our wedding planning party; a beer bundt using Robinson's Iron Maiden beer, Trooper. Beer works wonderfully in bundts. You get a nice close crumb that is moist despite the fact it's reassuringly heavy. You'll get a pretty special sugar crust too. As with any beer cake, it's worth reading a little bit about the hops that go into them when choosing complimentary flavours. This one uses Bobec, Goldings and Cascade, so has a slightly lemony taste to it.

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter
• 100g of vegetable fat 
• 650g golden caster sugar
• 6 medium eggs
• 450g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2 tsp lemon extract
• 250ml Trooper beer
• 500g icing sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. Grease and flour a regular sized bundt tin (2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch).
2. Soften the butter and vegetable fat and then cream in the sugar in stages.
3. Add the eggs one at a time on a slow setting.
4. Add all the remaining dry ingredients to a large bowl.
5. Add the lemon extract to the beer.
6. Sift in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by 1/2 of the liquid. Repeat until all the flour and liquid is used up. Fold it in gently...
7. Tip: at this stage it will look a right cock up. Breathe... it will all magically work when whizzed up.
8. Give the whole thing a quick mix for about 10 seconds or until well combined. It will no longer look rank.
9. Spoon the mix into the prepared tin and give it a good whack on the worktop. Because the cake has fizzy stuff in, it will hold a lot of air bubbles. Too many may mean the tin design is lost.
10. Bake at gas 3/160 C for about 2 hours. Just turn it after about an hour and a half.
11. It should be shrinking from the sides and a skewer should come out clean.
12. Let it cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn it out. 
13. Allow to cool fully before icing. 
14. To make the topping, add the lemon juice to the icing sugar, and enough water to make a runny icing. Tip it over like you're due down the aisle in five minutes.

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