One of the very first cakes I ever made from scratch was a margarita cake for a friend’s birthday. I recently decided to make this cake for my aunt’s retirement party as a surprise treat. This cake uses a simple vanilla sponge that is brushed with tequila, a lime curd filling that adds a bright citrus pop, white chocolate ganache drip that adds a pleasing esthetic to the cake, and Swiss meringue buttercream ensures that the cake will not be too sweet. This would be a great cake to make for any party or special occasion! Mexican Independence Day is right around the corner on the 16^th of September, so you can make it for that holiday as well!

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Ingredients

• 3 layers of Vanilla sponge (you can find my recipe here)

• Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 1/4 cup Silver Tequila (you can always add more if you want a bigger punch of alcohol flavor)

• 1/2 batch of Lime Curd (recipe at the bottom of this page)

• 3/4 cup White Chocolate

• 1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

• Green Food Gel

• Green Sprinkles

Step 1: Brush the Sponge with Tequila

Take a pastry brush, or even a silicon food brush, and generously brush the tops of each layer of sponge. Flip the layers of sponge upside down and brush a small amount of tequila on the bottom of each layer of sponge. Flip the layers of sponge right-side-up.

Step 2: Add Filling, Layer the Cake, And Dirty Ice/Crumb Coat the Cake

Add about a teaspoon of buttercream to the center of the cake board and then place the first layer of sponge on the cake board (the buttercream will act as a glue to ensure that the cake does not slide off the cake board). Add some buttercream to a plastic bag fitted with a Wilton 2A piping tip. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the perimeter of the sponge. Using a different piping bag, pipe a layer of lime curd onto the sponge. Sprinkle a small amount of salt onto the curd.

Add the next layer of sponge and then repeat the process until the cake is fully stacked. Dirty ice/crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

Step 3: Striped Buttercream

Once the buttercream firms up, add a very thick layer of buttercream and use a cake comb (like the one pictured above) to make 3D stripes along the side of the cake. Take some of the Swiss meringue buttercream frosting and add green food gel until you reach your desired color. Add this green buttercream to a piping bag and pipe it into the grooves you made using the cake comb. Next, use a bench scraper or another sharp sided kitchen tool to smooth the sides and top of the cake. Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours in order to make sure that the buttercream is very cold when you do the green drip in Step 4.

Step 4: Green Drip

Add ¾ cup white chocolate chips and ¼ cup heavy whipping cream to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and microwave again for an additional 15-30 seconds, or until all the white chocolate is melted. Stir the white chocolate ganache to ensure that the chocolate and cream are well combined and that there are no pieces of white chocolate remaining. Add a very small amount of the green food gel and stir into the ganache. Add more food gel, if needed, until you reach your desired color. Let the ganache cool to room temperature either by leaving it out for about an hour, or place in the refrigerator for approximately 20-25 minutes. Add the ganache to a plastic squeeze bottle (preferred), a piping bag, or simply use a spoon. Slowly add ganache right along the edge of the top of the cake and allow the ganache to drip down the side of the cake. Make sure to have a mixture of long and short drips. After making drips down the side of the cake, add a layer of ganache to completely cover the top of the cake. Place in the refrigerator to let the ganache set.

Step 5: Finishing Touches

Place a mixture of the green and white buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip. Hold the piping bag close to the side of the cake and pipe some buttercream in a small, frilly dollops. Rotate the cake 180° and pipe another dollop of buttercream. Rotate the cake 90° to pipe another dollop of buttercream. Continue to do this method until there is a ring of buttercream dollops on the top of the cake that are all equally spaced. Lightly sprinkle the buttercream with green sugar sprinkles and that completes the margarita cake!

Lime Curd

Recipe by Carly PrestonCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons lime zest

• 1/2 cup lime zest

• 8 egg yolks

• 1 cup granulated (caster) sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

• Green Food Gel

Directions

• Rinse, zest, and juice the limes.
• In a medium saucepan, add the sugar and salt. Briefly whisk these ingredients.
• Add the egg yolks to the saucepan and whisk together with the sugar and salt until the mixture lightens in color to more of a pastel yellow.
• Add the lime zest and juice and whisk to combine. Add the unsalted butter, move the pan to the stove, and cook on medium high heat.
• Whisk constantly while the mixture cooks and thickens, approximately 5-7 minutes. Note: Do NOT let the mixture boil. You will know the mixture is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and does not run together when you draw a line down the middle of the spoon with either your finger or the whisk.
• Remove from heat, strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, and add the green food coloring in small amounts until you reach your desired color, making sure to stir in between each addition. Allow the mixture to cool for approximately 20 minutes before sealing it in an airtight container and storing in the refrigerator.
• Let the mixture set for at least 4-6 hours before using it because it will continue to thicken.

Thank you so much for checking out this post! I hope that you enjoyed it and that you try it out yourself! Please leave a comment below regarding if you tried it, or what other cakes I should try to make!