Rebekah's Anise and Orange Liqueur Cakes

I made this up myself by looking at a few different from-scratch white cake recipes, piecing together the parts I liked and thought would chemically work, then throwing in my own flavorings. I do this sometimes and I'm not entirely sure how I get by with it--I haven't had any dramatic failures yet. It's not a good policy unless you know what your ingredients do, and my mother has taught me well on that front. These in particular turned out exceptionally delicious--the perfect thing to have with earl grey tea or hot cider when the cold weather is giving you no incentive to leave the house. They use some unusual ingredients, but this is the Spice House web site, and don't we all like to experiment here?