There were always sweets hidden somewhere in the nooks and crannies of my grandfather’s office, and they weren’t there solely to appease grandchildren, either. A similar sweet-tooth runs through most of my relatives and, since food is the preferred Mediterranean medium for expressing familial affection, there’s really no option but to bake.

With Father’s Day coming up right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to dish out some sugary treats to suit the dads in our lives.

They say that the way to a man’s heart is through the stomach, but just because you’ve already got dad’s eternal love, doesn’t mean you can’t take a little detour. If your dad is harboring a sugary sweet side underneath a rough-and-tough man’s man exterior, I’ve got the perfect compromise for you: beer!

Maybe you’ve heard of using beer to batter deep-fried items before, or maybe you just prefer your beers in the form of a nice cool pint. Either way, what you may not know is that beer can also make an excellent addition to any dessert.

Aside from adding a distinctive taste to baked treats, beer can also act as a leavening agent to make light and fluffy muffins, bread and biscuits.

Don’t just go sloshing a can of Cisk in with the Betty Crocker mix just yet though, we’re going to give you a couple of excellent examples you can start with.

First up is probably the most famous example of beer-inspired baking on the list: chocolate Guinness cake. They say it takes three pints to really get a taste for ‘the black stuff’, but after that you’re hooked. Even if you’re not much of a beer drinker, the smooth, slightly bitter taste is still a perfect pairing for chocolate and the two flavours combine to create a rich, thoroughly luxurious cake.

You can also make a glaze by mixing icing sugar with beer and dipping your donuts in the mixture

This dessert tends to largely be favoured around St. Patrick’s Day, but that doesn’t mean it’s not just as delicious throughout the rest of the year.

Along with all your regular baking ingredients, you’ll need about half a pint of Guinness to add to the mix while you’re making this cake. If Guinness is not your dear old dad’s favourite stout, you can certainly replace it with a chocolate stout if you must. Several recipes call for adding a Bailey’s buttercream icing to this cake, but personally, I prefer it with a salted caramel glaze on top to really bring out the richness of the flavour.

While we’re on the subject of good, old Guinness, there’s also an easy-peasy non-bake option at the ready in case of emergencies (and impatient dads). The real beer puritans out there might grumble a bit at this one, but Guinness also makes a lovely ice cream float. I wouldn’t go mixing it with strawberry swirl or tutti frutti, but ice cream in a complementary flavour like dark chocolate or coffee would go down a treat. Simply scoop some ice cream into a chilled pint glass and slowly pour cold Guinness in after it. If your dad is really up for a treat, chocolate or caramel syrup wouldn’t be a bad addition either.

Maybe dark beers aren’t your first choice and that’s perfectly fine. There are lots of options which can easily make use of lighter beers. Remember when I said that beer was a great leavening agent? Well, here’s one of the times it shines the most, adding a light and fluffy texture to batters. One great option to make use of this technique is Belgian waffles. It’s not difficult to find waffle makers locally these days; you can pick one up from kitchenware shops for a song and it’s worth it to get a bite of these crisp, delicious waffles.

Traditionally, Belgian waffles are made with yeast, which means the batter has to be allowed time to rise as the yeast does its job. Alternatively, many people substitute baking powder to do the trick, but it just doesn’t have quite the same effect. Beer can be a great compromise to both add airy lightness and be economical with your preparation time. Now, personally I do prefer waffles as a dessert with a little melted chocolate, but if they seem a little more like a breakfast food to you, there’s no reason your dad couldn’t have a nice breakfast in bed. He deserves a little pampering too, you know (even if he won’t always admit it).

While carefully researching the subject of pouring copious amounts of beer into tasty desserts, I happened to stumble across an idea for what is possibly the manliest dessert I’ve ever heard of. Dads everywhere are going to be excited about this one, so prepare yourself for… the beer donut! Combining both doughnuts and beer is just about the most dad thing since shopping for power tools on a Saturday morning.

This deviously brilliant idea is quite similar to a standard donut recipe, so stay away if you’re not a fan of a little bit of deep drying every now and again. To achieve that light, delicious texture we were talking about earlier, the idea is to use a bit of wheat beer or lager along with the yeast. The dough will still have to rise and be kneaded as you usually would with doughnuts. To add even more wonderful beer-ification, you can also make a glaze by mixing icing sugar with an IPA (India Pale Ale) beer and dipping your cooled donuts in the mixture. Beery and light on the inside, beery and sweet on the outside. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Baking is, of course, a little bit more subtle than just drizzling in some extra beer and hoping for the best, so be sure to take a quick peek for some concrete measurements before you get cracking. Dad carried you on his shoulders and scared the monsters out from under your bed, after all, the least you can do is sneak some beer into his cake this year.