This Margarita cake is made with lime juice and lots of tequila to make a tender layer cake full of margarita flavors. This is a great new favorite!
We are all well aware that pregnant women must avoid certain foods and beverages, including alcohol. It didn’t bother me at all, considering I tried for so long to become pregnant before getting pregnant with the twins. Although I expected to be able to go back to alcohol and caffeine after the twins were born, I didn’t consider that breastfeeding requires you to avoid many of these foods.
It’s not quite as strict as it sounds, so there’s no harm in allowing a little bit of everything. A margarita was the one thing I was most excited about trying again. Although most people don’t like tequila because of bad experiences, I can say that it is one of my favorite tequila drinks.
How to make Margarita Cake
To get started with the margarita cake, I used my Moist, Fluffy Vanilla Cake, as a base. There are many vanilla cupcakes I could choose from, but this one is my favorite. It’s so tender and buttery that it just seemed right for this recipe. Although it contains a staggering 1 1/2 cups of butter, it is well worth it! It makes a wonderfully moist, flavorful cake.
Cream the butter with some sugar until it is light and fluffy. This step is important and should not be overlooked. The creaming adds air to the batter, which helps to give it some rise.
Next are the vanilla extract and egg whites. The egg whites give the cake structure, and the vanilla extract adds flavor to offset the lime and tequila. You can make the rest of the batter by adding milk, lime juice, zest, and tequila to the dry ingredients.
Ingredients
Tequila Lime Margarita Cake
- 3 cups (390g) of all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (414g) sugar
- 4 whites
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/2 cup tequila
- 2 tbsp lime zest
Lime Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups butter
- 1 1/2 cups shortening
- 12 cups (1380g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp finely grated lime zest
- 6 tbsp fresh lime juice
- Lime slices, for decor
- Sugar sprinkles, for decor
Instructions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Grease the sides and line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Mix the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Continue to beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until it becomes light and fluffy.
4. Mix the vanilla and egg whites and beat at medium speed until combined. Make sure to scrape the sides of your bowl as necessary to ensure everything is well combined.
5. Mix about one-third of the flour mixture into the batter. Beat on medium speed until well combined
6. Mix the milk with the flour until well combined.
7. Mix in another third of the flour mixture and continue beating on medium speed until the batter is well combined.
8. Mix the lime juice, tequila, and lime zest and beat it on medium speed until combined.
9. Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients. Continue beating on medium speed until combined and smooth.
10. Spread the batter evenly on the pans.
11. Bake the cakes for between 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. It’s okay if the tops get a little brown.
10. Allow the cakes to cool in the oven for about 1-2 minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
11. Make the frosting by adding the shortening and butter to a large bowl. Beat until smooth.
12. Slowly add half the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
13. Mix the lime zest with the lime juice until smooth.
14. Slowly add the rest of the powdered sugar to the mixture and stir until smooth.
15. To thin the frosting, you can add more lime juice if necessary.
16. For the final assembly of the cake, flatten the tops. You want the cake layers to be flat. If there is a dome, you can trim it off.
17. The first layer of the cake should be placed on a plate. Next, top it with 1 cup frosting. Spread it out into an even layer.
18. Layer the second cake layer and add another layer of frosting.
19. Frost the cake by topping it with the remaining layer. To create the lines on the sides of the cake, I used my offset spatula (9 inches), but you can leave it off.
20. The remaining frosting and lime slices can be used to finish the cake. To mimic the appearance of salt, I sprinkled coarse sugar sprinkles on top of the cake. But that’s up to you.