Stout Cake with Whiskey and Bacon

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 10-inch springform cake pan and sprinkle with flour.

Step 2
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for cake together in a large bowl.

Step 3
Cream white sugar and butter with an electric mixer in another bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix on low speed, adding beer and flour mixture alternately in small amounts, beginning and ending with beer. Stir until just blended; do not overmix. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Step 4
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool inside the pan for 15 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Step 5
While the cake is cooling, combine beer and white sugar for simple syrup in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium and let simmer, undisturbed, until mixture has thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes.

Step 6
Cream butter with an electric mixer in a bowl and slowly add 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Add whiskey, followed by another cup of confectioners' sugar. Slowly mix in 1/2 of the cooled simple syrup. Mix in more confectioners' sugar as needed to reach desired consistency. Chill until ready to use.

Step 7
Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over a flat dish.

Step 8
Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to the brown sugar, pressing down each slice on both sides while still warm to coat with sugar. Set aside.

Step 9
Transfer cake to a serving platter and frost generously. Reserve 2 strips of bacon; break remaining bacon into large pieces and create a mosaic pattern around the sides of the cake. Crisscross the reserved two strips over the top. If there is leftover bacon, crumble it up and sprinkle it over the top as well.