Booze + Baking...what could be better???

So Sunday night, I got the craving for a sweet. Naturally, I got up and checked out the cupcake ingredients I had on hand.  Flour..check...sugar..check..butter..check...all the usuals.. but nothing to really give it a flavor. So I double checked my fridge one more time.. .and there it was....a bottle of Amaretto liquor with just enough left to cook with.  So I figure why not...something sweet..and my first 'boozy' cupcake.  How could booze and baking not go together, right?  The recipe I used was pretty simple, as was the frosting.

Amaretto Cupcakes
FOR THE CUPCAKES:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp Amaretto

FROSTING:

1 cup cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp Amaretto (taste to see if it needs more...I used 3 tbsp)

1) Preheat oven to 350 F and line mini cupcake pans
2) Add all ingredients into mixer and mix until combined
3) Pour batter into cupcake pans and bake for 12-15 minutes
4) Remove from oven, let cool slightly, then brush tops of cupcakes with Amaretto
5) While cupcakes are cooling, mix together ingredients for the frosting, adding more Amaretto if desired and adjusting thickness
6) Frost cupcakes and top with decoration of choice and enjoy!
7)  Makes 12 cupcakes (or you can do the mini's)

Comments, tips, recommendations:

Turns out...for this particular recipe... booze and baking were not a match made in heaven!  These were...ehh... I really expected more for these little guys.  The cook time says 12-15 minutes... I eneded up having to cook mine right at 20 minutes.  The cupcake was VERY dense and heavy.  These are also not a cupcake I recommend eating while warm. They need to be fully cooled, I even stuck mine in the fridge over night so that the icing didn't melt, but they tasted better when they were cold. I love amaretto, but this cupcake was a fail for me.  I don't think I will be making it again.

I might recommend substituting one cup of the cake flour for a cup of all purpose and adding 1/4 tsp of baking soda. I think this would lighten the cake up a bit.