What alcohol to use in yellow cake syrup?

[katecm]

Hello all,
I'm making a pretty traditional yellow layer cake with chocolate frosting for my husband's birthday, as it's his favorite combination, but I want to jazz it up a bit. I usually like to brush my cake layers with syrup to keep them moist and add some extra flavor, so am trying to decide what booze would be nice to add. My current thinking is amaretto, but perhaps I want to do a more traditional rum or brandy to keep the flavor a bit more pure. Any ideas?
Also, I don't have a really stellar yellow cake recipe, so if anyone has one, I'd love to see it. I'm looking for the moistest one I can find. Thanks!

[Jay F]

My favorite yellow cake is Alice Waters' version of the 1-2-3-4 Cake: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.co...

I've made it with separated eggs and unseparated eggs with equal success.

[EvZE]

Use a good tawny port at least 20 years old. It will have a great aroma, a good sweetness and will match well with the cake.

[lrmiller]

Thank you for this suggestion, EvZE -- I was making this same combination (but not for a birthday), and it's perfect for the crew I'm going to feed!

[todao]

My initial thought was buttered rum but when I saw EvZe's suggestion for the Tawny Port I quickly changed my mind. A very high quality Niepoort Tawny Port would be the perfect choice.

[MartiniGenie]

Seedless Red Raspberry jam melted and toss in some Chambord!
Or try some Bailey's Irish Cream in the frosting and just keep the syrup.

[danna]

I love Chambord in desserts! It's particularly good with blueberries, IMO.

[chef chicklet]

Grand Marnier and orange juice

[jaykayen]

I'll vote for this one.

[nemo]

Does he like hazelnuts? Frangelico goes great with chocolate. And you could spread some Nutella between the layers and put some toasted, crushed hazelnuts on the side of the cake, if that's not too much!

[todao]

Make a syrup with Cream Sherry (e.g. Harvey's Bristol Cream)
You could ehnance it with a touch of brown sugar.
If you want to stay away from the booze, you might try a cinnamon syrup. Goes great with chocolate frosting.