Perfect Cake Recipes for Father’s Day

Homemade gifts are always a lovely touch, and it’s even better if they’re edible. Home-baked cakes are traditionally more likely to feature in lists of Mother’s Day gift inspiration than as present ideas for Father’s Day, but dads love cake too, so why not surprise them with an edible gift for something a little bit different this year?

Master Cake Recipes with Alcohol

Instead of giving your dad a bottle of his favourite tipple this Father’s Day, why not bake it into a cake?

Adding alcohol into cake batter can make the mix extra moist and sticky, so you need to ensure you’re getting the balance of dry ingredients right. You can do this by making sure you’ve got roughly the same amount of liquid and dry ingredients in your cake tin before it goes in the oven.

With a stickier cake mixture, durable bakeware is absolutely essential, as it helps to make sure your cake will hold its shape, and it’s tough enough to survive hundreds of cycles in the dishwasher too, so it really doesn’t matter how sticky your batter is.

If your dad’s a beer drinker, a spiced ale cake including alcohol-soaked fruit - doing this overnight can help to prevent the batter from becoming too moist - would be a thoughtful idea.

Favourite ingredients like Guinness or chocolate would work really well in some cheesecake brownies, which are a delicious way to show you’ve gone the extra mile than standard chocolate brownies. Add some frozen raspberries to the cheesecake component before baking for an extra burst of flavour.

A few drops of whisky in a homemade salted caramel cheesecake recipe would also make a mouth-watering Father’s Day bake.

It can be a little trickier to get the creamy part of a cheesecake to set if you’re using alcohol, but it can produce a stunning flavour if you manage to get it right. The trick is to add just a little bit of the whisky at a time - if you use too much, you could ruin the topping beyond repair. Remember, you can always add more, but you can’t take any ingredients away.

You also need to think about the strength of the alcohol you’re using - you only need a tablespoon or two to get the flavour of stronger types of alcohol such as whisky, but you’ll need around five times this amount for the taste of beer or cider to come through. Alcohol cooks off during cooking, so this will also help with the overall consistency of your bake.

A non-stick, springform cake tin is a must-have for making the perfect cheesecake. Bear in mind that you may need to give yours extra time to set if you’ve added whisky or rum.

Say It with Savoury

If your dad doesn’t drink and doesn’t have a sweet tooth, you can still bake him something delicious for Father’s Day.

If he’s a cheese-lover, cheese scones are always a good option, and you can take them to the next level by adding a little pickle to your recipe. Again, this will make your mixture more moist than usual, so you may need to up the level of dry ingredients in your recipe, and using a non-stick oven tray will provide you with the extra support you need.

Savoury muffins are another good option, as you can add all of your dad’s favourite foods - think chorizo, cheese, chillies, spring onions, bacon, sundried tomatoes, anything you like - just make sure you’re using one of our muffin trays for easy release, even heat distribution and a perfect bake.

Edible Gifts that Make a Statement

Cakes for a special occasion don’t need to be covered in lashings of coloured buttercream or over-the-top motifs.

Allow your flavours to do the talking by picking ingredients that really pack a punch, avoiding teaming too many sweet flavours together to avoid it becoming too sickly.

Let your finishing touches make a statement too. The homemade gift itself should show your love and appreciation for your dad, so you don’t need to make the present cheesy with too much decoration.

Naked cakes are very on-trend at the moment. If you’ve used a non-stick cake tin, you should be left with perfectly smooth edges to your sponge, which are what you need if you’re adding just a thin covering of buttercream or icing for an understated look.

Feel confident making edible gifts for every occasion; shop our full collection of quality bakeware here.