Chill out with a cuppa and enjoy this traditional fruit cake.

For St. Patrick's Day, Chef Catherine Fulvio shares her recipe for fruit cake Guinness slices topped off with a Guinness cream sauce.

"This is my take on the traditional sticky toffee pudding recipe, adding a truly Irish dimension with the addition of the Guinness," says Chef Fulvio.

"We make this in our cookery school to great applause, though we find that the measurements of Guinness can be a bit heavy-handed!"

Read more: Guinness braised short ribs and horseradish mashed potatoes recipe

Fruit cake Guinness slice recipe

Ingredients (makes 9 squares):

For the slices:

5oz pitted dates

4oz dried apricots, chopped

5fl.oz Guinness

4fl.oz water

2.5fl.oz whiskey

1tbsp bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)

6oz Demerara sugar

3oz butter, softened

3 medium eggs, beaten

6.5oz self-raising flour

3.5oz chopped walnuts

Read more: Dining with Guinness - great foods to pair with your perfect pint

For the sauce:

2.5oz butter

2.5fl.oz Guinness

2.5fl.oz double cream

2 tbsp runny honey

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line an 8-inch square brownie tin with parchment paper.

2. Put the dates, apricots, Guinness, water, whiskey, and bread soda in a saucepan. Place over a gentle heat until the dates soften and break down, stirring occasionally. This should take about 4–5 minutes. Leave to cool.

3. Using an electric mixer, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs.

Read more: Chocolate Guinness brownie with stout butter frosting recipe

4. Fold the flour, walnuts and the cooled date mixture into the egg mix and transfer to the prepared tin. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack. Cut into 9 squares.

5. To make the sauce, place the butter, Guinness, cream, and honey in a saucepan and simmer over a low heat until the honey has dissolved and the sauce has thickened. Serve warm drizzled over the slices.

This sauce is delicious with ice cream and it freezes well too.

If you want to read more recipes from Catherine, have a look at her online store.

Read more: Guinness French onion soup recipe

* Originally published in 2016.