Make it SOON: Margarita Cake

If only I had a picture of the entire cake to show you... alas, I didn't think about sharing this gem of a cake until AFTER we nearly devoured it all up!

A friend of mine makes a similar cake that is very good too and that's where my fascination with Margarita cake came from in the first place.

I can't recall if I didn't have the recipe or if I decided to make this on the spur of the moment (usually THAT is the answer), but I happened upon the Cake Mix Dr's version of this cake and whoa... it is so super good. I decided to make this for a group of friends of mine who happened to be getting together on the day of the Pope's election. He's from Argentina and well, I decided a Margarita Cake was the BEST way to CELEBRATE! 

(I am not ashamed to say I LOVE an excuse to make a CAKE!)

Three words to describe this cake:

Moist

Lemony

"glaze-from-on-high"

Okay, that last one is more than a word, but really, the glaze/icing part of this is boozy and tart and all that!

Margarita Cake

from The Cake Mix Doctor

The Cake:

1 box of yellow or lemon cake mix- I always reach for lemon supreme- Duncan Hines, I believe

1/2 package vanilla instant pudding mix (4 TBS)

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup fresh lime juice - I have been using the little bottle of lime juice from the produce section- works well in a pinch, but you still need a lime for the cake/glaze!

1/4 cup Tequila

2 Tbs Triple Sec

1 tsp grated lime zest

4 large eggs

Glaze:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (may have skipped that)

1 Tbs each of tequila, triple sec, & lime juice

1-2 tsps lime zest

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour (very well) a 12 cup bundt pan. 

*don't skip the greasing and flouring step... the last time I made the cake, I did this step but must not have checked to make sure I did it very well and my cake stuck. It still tasted great, but it looked a little less appetizing. 

2. Place the cake mix in your mixer and turn it on low to break up any lumps. Then add the pudding mix (4 Tbs only!) through the eggs into the mixer. Turn on low and mix a minute or two. Scrape down the sides and mix on medium for 2 minutes until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and using a rubber spatula, scrape all around the bowl making sure all the dry ingredients are fully incorporated into the wet. The batter will be thick and should be smooth.

3. Pour into your prepared Bundt pan and place in the oven for 40-45 minutes. The top of the cake (well, bottom since it's in a bundt pan) should spring back when you press on it. Insert a toothpick to make sure it's down- it will come out clean with a few dry crumbs on it.

4. Let the cake cook on a wire rack 10-15 minutes- another important step. (Rushing this step may have been the other reason my cake stuck a bit.)

Run a knife along the sides of the pan and don't forget the middle part! Tap the pan on the counter a few times and then invert it onto your cake plate. Before you lift it, I tap the top with the handle of a spatula. Let the cake cool again- 25 minutes longer.

5. While the cake cools, make your glaze. Place powdered sugar, triple sec, tequila and lime juice in the mixer bowl. Add lime zest if you'd like. (I added lime zest to this as well- the original recipe says to garnish with lime slices, but I like the flecks of green zest in my glaze). Whisk until the powdered sugar is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Spoon over the COOLED cake. (alternatively, you can poke holes into the top of the cake and then spoon the glaze over the cake). Let the glaze set for 10 minutes and then serve!

A bundt cake like this will serve 12-16 people- all depending on thick you make your slices!

A sweet treat for your weekend ~ 3.19.20

This is a recipe from The New Holly Clegg Trim and Terrific cookbook. She says that it's her daughter's most requested recipe and it certainly is a sweet treat!

I love how it transforms in the oven... coming out looking like this!

Seriously, if you could smell that... you would swoon and quite possibly get a sugar high from the scent alone!

So it is obviously, very sweet, with a total of 3 cups (16 oz) of powdered sugar in the top layer! But don't be discouraged. Desserts are meant to be a bit indulgent, right? And this is a fun and quick recipe to make with simple ingredients that you probably have on hand in the fridge and pantry. And it's rather low in fat- depending on how many squares you cut your pan into- Holly says the recipe yields 48 squares. Those are rather tiny little treats, but oftentimes, it's all you need, right?

Enough rambling, here's the recipe!

Ooey Gooey Squares

1 box of yellow cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 Tbs water

1 pkg reduced fat cream cheese

16 oz (3 cups) powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large egg whites

1 cup chocolate chips (or try a combo- butterscotch + chocolate chip- mmm....)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a 9x13 inch pan by spraying it with non-stick spray.

Mix together the cake mix, melted butter, egg, and water until combined. Dump into your prepared pan and pat into the bottom until evenly distributed.

Swipe out your mixing bowl and put the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, egg whites in there. Mix until smooth and creamy. Stir in most of the chocolate chips. Pour mixture on top of your first layer. Scatter remaining chocolate chips on top and pop the pan into the oven for 40-50 minutes. You'll know it's done when it's nicely browned all over and the edges pull away from the sides. Let cool. For best results, cut with a plastic knife- it's a little kitchen trick that plastic knives cut brownies and these gooey squares the best!