almond vs. amaretto

it would be a subtle not a dramatic difference

kind of the difference between a child's cake and a grown up cake for me

i add my liqueurs to simple syrup

and brush or squirt this onto baked cake

i think i get more bang for my buck this way

rather than mixing it into cake batter

same family of flavors of course

if i knew this was for a mixed crowd i'd make sure the liqueur was added to the boiling simple syrup to zap most of the alcohol out

i mean vanilla has a ton of alcohol in it too so i don't think a *splash is in any way a danger to anyone

it's just a more subtle and grown up flavoring i think

and i mean what's to stop you from adding the splash to an almond cake in the first place

*splash = margaret braun's term for simple syrup + flavor

To expand on this, I have taken liqueur and brushed it directly on the cake without diluting it in a syrup.  Some of the more mild liqueurs benefit from just being directly brushed on (Godiva comes to mind).  If you let the cake sit for 24 hours the alcohol mellows and you are just left with the flavor.

I will never understand why people get so worked up about "alcohol" when vanilla is alcohol too.  Liqueurs are a wonderful extension of flavors that people should tap into, in my opinion.  I did four flavors of buches de noel over Christmas-each of them used some kind of liqueur.  I did Vanilla Bean Rum (with Meyer's Dark), Grand Marnier, Praline (with Frangelico), and Chocolate (with Meyer's and Godiva).  After they mellowed you could not taste the alcohol at all-just the pure flavor.  So essentially they are extracts.

You can boil it down to concentrate the flavor, and add that to the batter before it's baked.  Then you can do as k8 suggested and brush it on.  Amaretto is awesome.
 

Next time, let the alcohol mellow in the buttercream for a good 24 hours or so.  That way it won't be as boozy.  :)