Happy St. Patrick's Day

I'm not one for celebrating the day that's in it, well not since I was a child at home in Dublin. Then it meant a day off school, the St Patrick's Day parade, some green food (usually jelly!) and all you could eat of the thing you had given up for Lent. It's a St Patrick's Day rule, if you have given up something for Lent you can eat it on St Patrick's Day. I think this is becuase it always falls during Lent and as it is a celebration your Lenten fast can be forgotten for a day.
Having said that the opportunity to make a Chocolate Guinness Cake can't be passed up, can it? I was getting some stick from a couple of friends at work because I hadn't brought in cake for a while so celebrate we will. I have made this cake before, the last time a few weeks ago for a friends 40th. It is in Nigellla Lawson's Feast, in amongst a great chapter on celebration cakes. Not only does it have Guinness in it, it looks like a pint of Guinness with it's deep dark chocolate cake and it's cream cheese icing slathered on top.
It is also an easy cake to make, the Guinness and butter are melted together and everything is added to this brwon beery batter. The batter is very liquid so I always put the tin on a tray in case of seepage. It takes about an hour to bake and then is left in the tin until it has cooled completely. I made the icing and then iced it at work. So yesteday afternoon at 3.30pm we had a small St Patrick's Day celebration in Holland Park. It is a moist cake that has an earthy chocolatey flavour, you can almost taste the Guinness.
And now that it is the day that's in it I will be having a pint of the black (while watching Ireland beating England in the rugby, hopefully) and some chocolate, well it is a St Patrick's Day rule and I have given it up for Lent!