Maple Beer Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze & Bacon Beer Brittle

For the brittle:

Heat a large pan over medium heat and add the bacon to the pan. Cook until very crisp, around 30 minutes. Cover a plate with a paper towel and put the bacon on the plate to soak up any extra oil. Once it’s cooled a bit, chop the bacon very finely.

Line a baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper and set aside. Combine the bacon and peanuts in a bowl and set aside.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine beer, sugar and corn syrup until well mixed. Over medium high heat, bring mixture to 250 F without stirring. Then add the butter and stir constantly until mixture reaches 320 F. Remove from heat and quickly stir in the baking soda (the mixture will begin to foam). Fold in nut and bacon mix. Pour onto the lined baking sheet and spread out evenly. Let it harden and cool completely and then break into small pieces. Add the pieces into a food processor and pulse until pieces are small and fine. Once the brittle is done set it aside and prepare your glaze.

For the glaze:

In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, dark brown sugar, heavy creamy and salt to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Add 1/3 cup of the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Continue to whisk in the sugar until you reach the desired consistency. Set the glaze aside and prepare the cake.

For the cake:

Spray a standard 8 by 8 brownie pan with cooking spray and preheat your oven to 325 F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the maple syrup, vanilla and maple extract and mix until well combined. Add the eggs and beat well. Alternately add the milk and beer and dry ingredients and mix gently until all of the ingredients have been added and the batter is well combined. Pour into the pan and bake for 40 minutes.

When done remove the pan from the oven and set it on a rack. You will want the cake to completely cool before adding the glaze and brittle. This will take around 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Assembling the cake:

Once you have waited an hour and 30 minutes, add the glaze on top of the cake. You can simply spread it with a butter knife or pour the glaze into a bottle and squirt it out. After you glaze the cake, add the crumbled bacon peanut beer brittle. Slice into 8 large pieces and enjoy!