Although TCOC loves to go out for dinner, our bank accounts require us to fend for ourselves now and again. Luckily we’ve been house trained and can whip up a decent dish now and again. Every Wednesday morning (ish) we will be posting a scrummy recipe to get you over your midweek slump.
I have been asked to pop up the recipe for my Margarita sponge after tweeting about it last week. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to make one to show you pics but hopefully my instructions are easy to follow for even the most novice of bakers.
It was birthed when I had a last minute Mexican themed dinner party and needed a knock out dessert with what I had left in the cupboards. It’s pretty much a lemon drizzle cake with a naughty side and a creamy frosting. I haven’t tried adapting into cupcakes as sadly my equipment has gone AWOL but i think these would make a lovely addition to a hen do or girls’ night in and the principle is pretty much the same, just adjust cooking times.
Margarita Drizzle Cake
Ingredients
For the drizzle (in a measuring jug)
· 1 lemon, freshly squeezed
· 2 limes, freshly squeezed
· ¼ orange, freshly squeezed or 12.5ml cointreau / triple sec
· 50ml good quality golden tequila
· 75ml agave syrup or 100g caster sugar, depending on preference
N.B. this may seem like a lot of liquid but it is really key for making the cake sinfully moist
For the sponge
· 200g/7oz caster sugar
· 200g/7oz unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
· 1 lemon (zest only)
· 2 limes (zest only)
· ½ orange zest
· 3 free-range eggs, beaten
· 200g/7oz self-raising flour
For the topping
· 250ml Mascarpone cheese
· 25ml good quality golden tequila
· 50ml agave syrup or 50g caster sugar
· 2 limes (zest only)
· 1 lime, freshly squeezed
· ½ lemon, freshly squeezed
· ¼ orange, freshly squeezed
Preparation method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in springform cake tin with butter.
2. For the margarita drizzle, in a measuring jug, mix together the citrus juice, tequila and agave/sugar until the mixture is well combined and the sugar has dissolved completely. Set aside.
3. For the sponge, beat the sugar, butter and citrus zest in a mixing bowl until pale and fluffy, using an electric whisk.
4. Gradually add the eggs, whisking after each addition until the egg is completely incorporated into the mixture before adding the next. Carefully fold in the flour using a metal spoon.
5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the sponge has risen and is cooked through. (The sponge is cooked through when a knife or skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.)
6. As soon as the cake is cooked, remove it from the springform cake tin and prick the top all over with a cocktail stick/fork. Pour over the margarita drizzle mixture to soak the sponge, then set aside to cool on a wire rack. It looks a lot but you need this so it’s nice and moist. To help absorption, pour it over in 3 lots at five minute intervals and make sure it doesn’t all go in the middle or it will go soggy – I put a large plate underneath the wire rack to catch spills when I was pouring on the sides.
7. Once cooled the cake may be a bit ‘domed’ if it’s risen too much so just level this off with a knife if it is noticeable. Mine was quite domed when it came out the oven but once cooled, fell a bit so it wasn’t too noticeable and I didn’t bother so wait and see before cutting any off.
8. For the icing, the cake must be COMPLETELY cooled (or it will go all runny and gross). Whisk all the ingredients together (reserving some lime zest) and smear over the top of your cake. You can decorate with the remaining lime zest and anything else you like – I used orange and lemon jelly decorations as it gives it a ‘cocktail garnish’ look but I think it’d look nice with hundreds and thousands or silver balls too!
9. Cut a slice and stuff your face. It’s called a cake-hole for a reason!
Enjoy xxx
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