Access a controller function on Auth::user(); - laravel

Question

I used the scaffolding tools to generate my authentication code for my laravel project. I created a UserController to make a profile page which works great but when I try to make a function that can be used on Auth::user() i get an error Call to undefined method Illuminate\Database\Query\Builder::admin()
Why isn't the admin function accessible on the Auth::user()? Doesn't that extend my UserController? Or am I mixing it up with the model? Is the the model a good place to check if my user is an admin?
Here is my user controller
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Auth;
use App\Http\Requests;
class UserController extends Controller
{
/**
* Create a new user controller instance.
*
* #return void
*/
public function __construct()
{
$this->middleware('auth');
}
/**
* #return View with user data
*/
public function index() {
$user = Auth::user();
return view('users.index', compact('user'));
}
/**
* #return bool
* Returns bool if the user is an admin.
*/
public function admin() {
$user = Auth::user();
$authorized_users = [
'admin#test.com'
];
return array_key_exists($user->email, $authorized_users);
}
}
and I am calling it on a different route controller function
public function index() {
return Auth::user()->admin();
}
I am fairly new to laravel and php so any critique is valuable and wanted!

Answer 1

You could add a function or attribute to you User model, I prefer attributes:
//User.php
class User extends Model{
protected $appends = ['is_admin'];
public function getIsAdminAttribute()
{
$user = Auth::user();
$authorized_users = [
'admin#test.com'
];
return array_key_exists($user->email, $authorized_users);
}
...
}
//Then in your view
Auth::user()->is_admin

Answer 2

No, Auth::user() does not extends any Controller. It represents the instance of the currently logged in/authenticated user. It will allow you retrieve other attributes of the use such as id, name etc Auth::user()->admin(); does not make any sense. Auth::user() has nothing to do with the UserController or any other controller.