So I'm recently getting into using booze more in my cakes, so I think it would be fun to share what booze you use in your kitchen!

Please share the alcohol with the brand and what you use it in. Oh, and to keep it fun, what's your favorite drink of choice?

I'll start, but this is a short list:

Baily's Irish Cream, use in my chocolate SMBC
Meyer's coconut rum, used in my coconut cake
Kahlua, used in my SMBC
Kettle One, used for various things like painting etc.

Favorite beer: Stella
Favorite cocktail: Lemon drop with a splash of Chambord, also known as a Crushed Velvet
Red or White? Red, the dryer, the better like Zins and Syrahs.

Tag, you are it!

Everclear: Use it to paint with luster dust.

Gilbey's Vodka- for painting

Pricey dark rum...but it's for me and not my cakes!




My apologies...I could not help myself.

Do none of you use alcohol for flavoring? Not just for painting?

I use rum and bourbon as flavoring, and sometimes some of the liqueurs...chambord (but I get the generic), triple sec, amaretto etc.

The most frugal way I've found of giving a liquor flavor to a cake is to make a simple syrup, let it cool and then add some liquor to it and brush it over all of the cake surfaces.

I haven't baked with alcohol yet, but definitely want to try it. My eyes have been opened to all of the possibilities! My first try will be the pink champagne cake with chambord from another post. I'm also a big fan of the flavor of kahlua, so I will be trying that too, just not sure in what quite yet. FromScratch, I love the idea of irish cream in chocolate SMBC. Yum! That might be dangerous to have around though... I can also see how experimenting can get quite expensive!

Just to drink, I stay away from the liquors for the most part, though I recently had a wonderful drink with vodka, chambord and melted white chocolate. Oh, it was so good. A friend mixed it for me, so I'm not sure what it is called.

I like wine, red and dry. (Wait, did that sound too enthusiastic??

I have rum, vodka, peppermint schnapps, kaluaha.

Sometimes I even put them in my cakes

I'm a teetotaler and always have been. We weren't raised with alcohol in our home, so by the time I was legal, it didn't taste good. I also don't like coffee--love the way it smells, just don't like the taste.

So...then I get into cake decorating as a hobby. I haven't tried 'em yet, but I have in my fridge, ready to go:
Bailey's
Creme de Cacoa
Kahlua
Ameretto
Vodka (for gum paste work)

I'm going to use them in my buttercreams and see what people think. I'll have to try people outside the family, because we will all probably think they are "yucky", lol.

Baileys Irish Cream, vodka, brandy, cake wine, Guinness stout, gold rum (either tortuga, black beards (Cayman rum) or Appleton (Jamaican rum), and amaretto.

I use booze in my cakes all the time. On my shelf, I have:

Chambord
Creme de Menthe
Grand Marnier
Irish Cream
Mount Gay Brown Rum
Port Wine (I use a mixture of port wine, brown rum and stout to soak my fruits)
Lemoncello
Kirsch

To all of the above liqueurs, I will add nut liqueur. It's usually red and goes into my red velvet cakes. http://bakingfix.com/thefix/?p=5014

Apti - Other than an opened bottle of wine, I never refrigerate any liquor. I don't drink, either, I just like to use them in baking. They seem to last forever just sitting in a cabinet.

Mimi, the red nut liqeuer sounds genious! I've been looking for an alternative to the red food coloring in red velvet cake. I haven't figured out how to make beets really work. How red does the cake get with the nut liqueur? I looked at your link, but my computer doesn't show colors super well. Thanks for the tip and the link!

Bailey's Irish Cream in bc and pastry cream and on the rocks
Amaretto di Sarrono, also in bc and pastry cream and with soda and a twist of lime
Peach brandy, bc and pastry cream and brandied fruit compote

I don't bake too much with liquor, mostly used for flavorings. I don't drink often but my top picks are the 2 mentioned above or a good margarita (rocks, not frozen, made with tequila, triple sec and lime juice, and NO salt; woe to the bartender who forgets and then tries to wipe it off ). I also make a killer sangria (summer) and mulled wine (winter).

Yeah, I'm hitting BevMo tomorrow and am going to come home with so much booze

What a fun thread you started!

I have yet to use alcohol in my cake batters, but the Pink Champagne Cake thread has definitely inspired me.

I have, however, used alcohol in my fillings. I like using Kahlua and Frangelico in ganache. I made a hazelnut mascarpone filling once and added Frangelico (as well as hazelnut paste) with great results.

I am making a brown sugar bourbon buttercream this week.

OH! Brown sugar bourbon??? Is that a crusting or a meringue? I've been meaning to try making brown sugar SMBC, haven't had the chance but that sounds divine, especially on a pumpkin or spice cake, yeah? Is that what you were planning on putting yours on?

I use stout beer, vanilla cognac, rum - spicy and coconut, and khaula

Someone just gave me a bottle of very sweet Crema Lemoncello. It's "...created from selected lemon groves in the picturesque area of the Amalfi coast where the golden sun ripens the lemons to enhance their delicious and intense flavors." Yeah, yeah. I hate all advertising copy written for us suckers, but this is truly delicious.

I already have a Limoncello Cake recipe http://bakingfix.com/thefix/?p=3368 so I'm not sure what to do with this bottle. But if I don't decide soon, that Amalfi coast will be in my dreams.

:0 That sounds great! I've had cocktails made with it. I;m a sucker for the lemon!

Huh, I'd start with dark, and I plan on trying this recipe...

http://www.marthastewart.com/326515/brown-sugar-swiss-meringue-buttercream

It has 2/3 cups more brown sugar then her regular SMBC recipe so I think you have to use more.

I probably have fifty items that include alcohol on my menu. In every case, I use it for flavor, not a novelty. Except for the Absinthe, the flavors are usually mellow, even though significant amounts are sometimes used. I never drink (migraine trigger), but the value of alcohol in baking is evident in our love of vanilla extract. Alcohol is a world of flavor possibilities.

Bailey's, on a specific cake with a complimentary filling, brushed.

Frangelico, chocolate chip cookies, with Chambord as two complimentary IMBC's for a Nuts and Berries flavor, yellow cake.

Makers Mark Bourbon in yellow cake for Boston Cream Pie and in sweet potato cheesecake.

Chambord in about five different cakes.

Advocat in IMBC for a custard or egg nog taste. Brush on cake also.

Myers Dark Rum for Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Everclear for my homemade Limoncello project.

Limoncello for Limoncello Cake.

Coconut rum for German Chocolate Cake and Coconut Cake.

Absinthe for its own featured cake. A pleasant surprise. I thought this one would be too bold, but it really tastes good.

Cointreau for the Mimosa cake of snarky's.

Grand Marnier for anything with dried fruit, and fruitcake.

Fragoli for Strawberry Pink Champagne Cake.

Guiness Stout cupcake, Jameson infused ganache, Bailey's IMBC.

Guiness Stout in Gingerbread.

Banana Liqueur and Myers Dark Rum for Bananas Foster Cupcakes.

Hennessy Cognac in my regular yellow cake.

Godiva Chocolate Cupcakes with Godiva IMBC. Sometimes I mix it with Frangelico.

Kahlua brushed on chocolate cake with Kahlua Buttercream.

Makers Mark in Chocolate Pecan Pie.

Calvados on a French Apple Tart and in Apple pie... crust too.

Marsala, Brandy, Kahlua, in Tiramisu.

Kahlua in Cappuccino Cheesecake.

Bailey's in Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake.

Kirschwasser in Black Forest Cake.

Grey Goose Vodka in homemade vanilla extract.

Amaretto Di Saronno for almond flavor.

oh, what a fun subject. LOVE to use alcohol in my cakes. Recently found a recipe from "Fields of Cake" for a caramel that uses Hot Damn cinnamon schnapps and chipotle powder....and it is PHENOMENAL. I also love to use Meyers Dark Rum in my rum cakes....mmmmmm.

klangl, if you have great base recipes, many liqueurs and spirits can be adapted to use in those recipes. My one suggestion is to always buy top shelf. It is better to limit the flavors or just buy minis than to compromise on the quality. Lower quality alcohols will not yield the refined taste of the better ones. They are almost candy-like in baked goods. But if you do want to use them, or some you have around the house from mixing drinks, make the item fun, like copying a popular drink instead of a fine dessert.