Lá Fhéile Pádraig

St. Patrick's Day - Lá Fhéile Pádraig in Gaelic. Did you know that St. Patrick used the shamrock to describe the Holy Trinity? Just as a shamrock is both one leaf and three, God is one God, and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together are God. British-born St. Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland, and legend has it he rid the island of snakes! Here is a link if you'd like to learn more about the patron saint of Ireland. http://www.entourages.com/barbs/stpatrick.htm

For our St. Patrick's Day in Italy, we stayed home and had Guinness Cake with the Tatros and the Jacobs. Mommy will share the recipe she used because it was very good, and she hopes you will try it! Auntie Gayle made shamrock shakes, too. Delicious!

GUINNESS CAKE

Recipe created by Seth Roth and Bryan Devlin

Cake:

2 sticks butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 cup Guinness stout

6 eggs

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a bowl, cream together the butter and both sugars. In another bowl, mix together the baking powder, spices, salt, flour and cocoa. At the very last moment, add the Guinness to the eggs. (Don't let it sit too long, or the alcohol will begin to cook the eggs!)

Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and blend, then add half of the wet ingredients. Repeat this process until all the ingredients are combined.

Preheat the oven to 350°, and line the bottom of at least two 9-inch diameter cake pans with wax paper. (Use as many layers as you like for your own cake.) Divide the batter between pans, and bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes in pans for about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack and peel off the wax paper. Let the layers cool completely before frosting.

In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until mixed, then beat in the sugar. Finally, add the vanilla. Place one cake layer, bottom side up, on a platter. Spread with frosting, then top with another layer, bottom side down. Repeat with each layer, then spread the remaining frosting smoothly over the top and sides of the cake.