**Proceed with caution: you might never bake sober again.**

 
I’m sure alcohol isn’t a particularly popular ingredient in your go-to baking recipes—and obviously, that’s because waiting for the baked goodies to cook and cool before eating them is hard enough without adding the lucrative, inebriated temptation of booze to the mix! But honestly, why choose? Not only does baking with alcohol add an ingenious layer of flavor upon cakes, cookies, brownie—you name it—but it also gives you an excuse to bake while you’re buzzed with all those leftover ingredients, which is never an issue! Except, of course, when it is such as being under the legal age to drink or having medical reasons to abstain from alcohol, in which cases I don’t recommend this kind of baking and rather suggest take a sort of passerby approach to this post.

Having done some research on the possible drawbacks of baking with alcohol, because otherwise, it’d be too good to be true, an intuitive baker of the 6 Cakes & More blog cautions against the widely believed misconception of the alcohol completely evaporating in the baking process. It depends on the potency of the alcohol as well as the size of whatever it is you’re baking, but it can very much still be present in the resulting treats. Something small and condensed will retain more liquid and therefore evaporate less effectively than something with a larger area to spread and dry out. It’s certainly something to keep in mind depending on whether you’re baking for others or not (plus it might be embarrassing to get smashed on cupcakes, or contrarily one of the best things ever; attitude is key).

 
Contributor to The Cake Blog, Summer Stone, wonderfully professes the possible uses and tried outcomes with the presence of various spirits specifically in cakes. Each type in the selection acts differently with the structure, texture, and flavor of the trial batches, and depending on the type of cake you’re wanting to bake as well as the consistency you’d like it to have, it’s optimal to use a variety. The question of just-how-much-is-too-much is quickly answered by using a standard 8-inch cake pan for a layered cake to gauge the measurements of four categories of alcohol that vary in alcoholic proof.

 
The first test, cider, was shown to add little to both the consistency and the flavor of the cake. In reality, I suppose it would be like baking with apple juice considering it has a low proof and an even lower addition to moisture in the cake. If you’re looking for a boost in apple flavor as well as a better texture, it would be better to substitute some of the oil or butter with applesauce and maybe just add rum extract for the robust flavor.

 
The wine has a little more proof than cider, nothing monumental, but it was certainly more condensed. If you prefer a more tart flavor to your cake, either to balance the contrast with the frosting or because it’s more of a tea cake of sorts, then wine would be a great addition to make the cake a little crumbly without sacrificing the flavor for moist, fruity additives.

 
Hard liquor, the Real Deal™, of course, varies in proof but its effect on baked goods is relatively similar. Great for use in rum cakes because it evaporates fairly well and leaves a strong, buttery flavor behind as well as great crumbly texture to soak up a light glaze (or even more alcohol) as a finishing touch.

And those are the basics to baking with alcohol! Of course, they will work similarly in other types of cake-like baked goods, such as cupcakes, breads, and even brownies due to the process of evaporation, and experimenting with whatever’s left in your pantry after whatever gathering you had the misfortune of attending never hurts! Put the liquor to good use and bake it.