Miniature Amaretto Cakes
Looking for creative ideas for cupcakes? How about a grownup spin, using Amaretto? This has to be the world's best cupcake recipe - I know we love it in our house!
Cooking Time25 min
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 4 eggs
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup Amaretto
- 1 1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon light corn syrup
Instructions
- Generously grease and flour eight 4-inch fluted tube pans or twenty 2½-inch muffin cups.
- Let butter and eggs stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Stir together flour, baking powder, and nutmeg.
- In a large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.
- Add 1 cup of the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating on medium-high speed about 6 minutes or till mixture is very light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition, scraping bowl often.
- Stir in 1/3 cup of the Amaretto, the lemon peel, and vanilla.
- Gradually add flour mixture, beating on medium-low speed just till combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake in a 325°F oven 20 to 25 minutes for 4-inch pans, 22 minutes for muffin pans, or till a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
- Cool on rack 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans. Cool thoroughly.
- Prick fluted top and sides of each cake or top and sides of each cupcake generously with tines of a fork.
Syrup
- In saucepan combine remaining sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup water.
- Cook and stir over medium heat till bubbly and sugar is dissolved; remove from heat.
- Stir in remaining Amaretto. Cool 5 minutes.
- Dip top and sides of each cake or top and sides of each cupcake into syrup.
- Place on wire rack above a baking sheet.
- Spoon or brush remaining syrup over tops of cakes. Cool.
- Wrap cakes individually in plastic wrap; chill up to 3 weeks. You can also transfer to a tightly covered container and chill up to 3 weeks.
- For giving, place the individually wrapped cakes in a tissue-paper-lined box or place on foil-covered cardboard and overwrap with cellophane. Makes 8 miniature cakes or 20 cupcakes — 4 gifts.