For more from Gavan Knox, visit his website.

Can O’Beer Cake

Serves 16-20

Ingredients

• One 15-ounce box yellow cake mix
• 1/3 cup Canola oil
•  3 large eggs
• One 12oz can Irish ale, such as Kilkenny Pale Ale
• ¼ cup sugar
•  1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 12 oz frozen cherries, thawed
• Whipped cream for serving, optional

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to 350° F and spray a 10-cup plain Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray
2. Whisk the cake mix, oil, eggs and 1 cup pale ale in a large bowl until smooth and well-combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula, then bake until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes
3. Meanwhile, pour 2 tablespoons pale ale in a heatproof glass bowl and microwave until hot, about 30 seconds. Stir in 2 tablespoons sugar until dissolved
4. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert it onto a cooling rack. Using a toothpick, poke several holes over the cake, then drizzle the ale syrup evenly over the cake until it soaks in. Let the cake cool completely
5. Stir the confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons pale ale together in a bowl until smooth. Add more beer, 1 teaspoon at a time, as needed to form a thick glaze. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the cake and let stand until set, about 10 minutes
6. Meanwhile, combine the remaining pale ale and 2 tablespoons sugar with the cherries in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the cherries are warmed through and the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup, about 10 minutes. Transfer the cherries to a bowl and let cool completely
7. Serve cake slices with the cherries on the side and a dollop of whipped cream, if using

Gur Cake/ Chester Bread

Yields 16

Ingredients

For the Shortcrust pastry

• 2 ½ cups All purpose flour
•  ¾ cup Butter, cold and diced
•  ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoon ice cold water
• Flour, for dusting

For the Filling

• 15 Slices of bread, at least 1 day old
• ¾ cups Cold strong tea (preferably Irish)
•  ¾ cups Irish Red Ale (Smithwicks)
• 1 cup, packed Brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Mixed spice (Pumpkin spice)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup All purpose flour
•  ¼ cup butter, cubed
• 1 cup Raisins
• 2 Tablespoons fancy molasses (not blackstrap)
•  Icing or fine sugar for dusting, optional

Directions

To make shortcrust pastry

1. Combine the flour and salt into a bowl, coarsely rub in the butter with knives or a pastry cutter. Continue until you have the texture of coarse meal. Some pea-sized granules of butter may remain
2. Sprinkle over the water and bring the ingredients together to make a soft dough. Additional water may be needed depending on your kitchen’s temperature/ humidity
3.  Lightly knead to bring it together in a ball. Flatten to a disc, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for a least an hour before using

To make filling

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease and line a 9′ x 9′ tin (2″ high)
2. Remove the crusts from the slices of bread and place the slices in a shallow casserole or baking dish
3. Pour over the cold tea, red ale and leave to soak for 1 hr
4. After the hour, drain of any excess tea and using a fork mash the wet bread to thick pulp
5. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and mixed spice, stirring well to combine
6. Rub in the cold diced butter until you have something that resembles coarse meal in texture (similar to making the pastry above)
7. Add the bread mixture, treacle and raisins to the flour/ sugar/ spice mixture and stir well to combine

To assemble

1. Remove the pastry from the fridge and divide into 2
2. Roll one 1/2 of the pastry large enough to fit your baking tin and use to line the bottom of it. Prick the pastry all over with a fork or knife
3. Pour and spread the bread mixture over this pastry layer
4. Roll the remaining pastry to fit the top of the tin and place over the filling, pressing to form a lid. Again, prick the second layer of pastry all over with a fork or knife (helpful hint: I roll to size and prick BEFORE placing the pastry lid on to the filling. This stops the pastry being pushed down into the soft filling mixture)
5. Bake in your preheated oven for 1 hr, after which remove and let to cool completely in the tin. The finished bake should have firmed up considerably but still have a slight wobble.  Dust with sugar if using
6.  Once fully cooled, cut into squares (using this tin I usually divide into 4 x 4). (The top layer of pastry may have shrunk back from the sides. If you prefer a tidier appearance, you can cut the side in line with the basked pastry edge)
7. The finished Gur Cake/ Chester Bread can be dusted with sugar or left plain if preferred
8. Serve and enjoy!

Baked Gur Cake/Chester Bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days

Irish Porter Cake

Serves 24

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 ¼ cup (300ml) porter (stout) + additional ¼ cup (optional)
• rind of 1 orange
•  1 ¼ cups sultanas
• 1 ¼ cups raisins
•  ½ cup chopped mixed peel (optional)
• 3 ½ cups All Purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp mixed spice (pumpkin spice)
• ½ cup glace cherries, halved
• 3 eggs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line am 8inch square tin with baking parchment
2. Melt the butter, sugar and stout in a saucepan. Add the orange rind and all the fruit, except the cherries. Bring the mixture to the boil and boil for 3-4 minutes stirring frequently
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until it is lukewarm. Sieve the flour, baking soda and spice into a large mixing bowl. Add the boiled fruit mixture fruit to the flour and add the cherries.
4. Beat the eggs, add gradually, mixing evenly through the mixture. Cook in your preheated oven on the middle shelf for 60-70 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean
5. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool in it’s tin for 20 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely*
6. Serve and enjoy!

*If using the additional ¼ cup of porter, this can be drizzled over the surface of the cake about 5 minutes after removing it from the oven. Allow the porter to sink in between drizzles

(Irish Porter Cake can be made up to 2 weeks in advance, wrapped tightly in baking parchment and foil and stored in a cool, dark place to allow to mature and develop flavours)

Snakebite Cake

Serves 16-20

Ingredients

For the Apple Topping

• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 medium apples, peeled and sliced into ¼ -inch slices

For the Cake

• 1 ½ cups All purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
•  ½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup light or dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
•  6 Tablespoons Irish lager, such as Harp, at room temperature

Method

For the Apple Topping

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Combine butter and brown sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk occasionally until butter has melted. Cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute as mixture thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in the cinnamon and vanilla extract. Pour into an ungreased 9 round cake pan (at least 2 inch high)
3. Arrange the apple slices neatly on top of the butter caramel, overlapping where necessary. Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the cake batter

For the Cake

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together. Set aside until needed
2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy
3. Add both sugars and beat on high speed until creamed together. Scrape down where as needed
4. On high speed, beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Scrape down where as needed
5. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer onto low speed and as the mixer runs, slowly pour in the beer.
6. Beat on low speed just until all the ingredients are combined. (You may need to mix it by hand to make sure there are no flour lumps at the bottom of the bowl). The batter will be slightly thick
7. Remove apple topping from the refrigerator. Pour and spread cake batter evenly over topping
8. Bake for 40–45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out mostly clean—a couple moist crumbs are OK.  (if needed tent foil on top of the cake halfway through bake time to prevent the top from over-browning before the centre has a chance to fully cook). *Don’t be alarmed if your cake takes longer or if the cake rises up and sticks to the foil.
9. Remove cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert the slightly cooled cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Some of the juices from the topping will seep over the sides.
10. Allow the cake to cool completely at room temperature
11. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Stout, Chocolate & Black Garlic Cupcakes

Yields 16

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

• 1x 12-ounce (355ml) bottle Irish stout, such as Guinness
• 6 cloves Black garlic, peeled
• 1 cup All-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons espresso powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup + 1 Tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup full-fat sour cream, room temperature
•  2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting

•  2 Tablespoons reduced stout syrup (from step 1)
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 1 ¼ cups butter, softened
• 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon milk, room temperature
•  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt, to taste

Method

For the Cupcakes

1. In a small saucepan, bring the Irish stout to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce to medium heat and allow to simmer until it’s reduced to 2/3 cup (about 20 minutes). Combine ½ cup of reduced Irish stout syrup with the black garlic cloves and mash (using a fork or spoon) to a paste. Set aside to cool before using later in the cupcake batter
2. While it’s warm, mix the rest of the reduced Irish stout syrup (about 2–2. ½ Tablespoons) with 2 teaspoons of espresso powder (from the frosting ingredients). Set this mixture aside for use when making the frosting  
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Line a second pan with 4 liners. Set aside until needed
4. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt together until thoroughly combined. Set aside until needed
5. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla together until completely smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the ½ cup stout syrup/ black garlic paste, then whisk until just combined- don’t over-mix. The batter will be on the thinner side
6. Pour or spoon the batter into the lined muffin pans, about 2/3 full. Bake for 19–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean (Begin checking for doneness at 19 minutes). Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting

For the Frosting

1. In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2–3 minutes
2. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, reduced stout/ espresso powder mixture (from Step 2), milk, and vanilla extract. Beat on low for 30 seconds then increase to high speed and beat until combined and creamy
3. Add a pinch of salt, whip for 2-3 minutes at high speed. Taste and add more salt if desired.
4. Frost the fully cooled cupcakes, by piping or spreading the fully cooled cupcakes with the frosting
5. Serve and enjoy!