How Divine Is This Strawberry Lime Margarita Cake?

This Strawberry Lime Margarita Cake tastes as divine as it looks. The recipe is from The Sweet As Baking Cookbook, produced by the team at the hugely popular taste.com.au website. Published by HarperCollins (RRP $39.99), the book is the ultimate baking companion for anyone with a sweet tooth.

If there is one thing taste.com.au has been famous for over the years, it is surely sweet bakes. While there are probably several thousand recipes for sweet bakes on the site, the selection has been whittled down to around 250 that are either favourites of those in the taste.com.au team or recipes their followers have raved about.

The recipes include biscuits and slices, pastries and pies, cupcakes and cakes, along with tips and baker’s secrets. The taste.com.au recipes always seem to be winners and this Strawberry Lime Margarita Cake is no exception.

Guaranteed if you produce this cake for a special occasion, people will think you’re as sweet as. Happy baking!

Strawberry Lime Margarita Cake

300g (2 cups) plain flour
1¾ tsp baking powder
1 tsp table salt
250g fresh strawberries, plus extra, halved, to decorate
315g (1½ cups) caster sugar
2 eggs
250ml (1 cup) milk
185ml (¾ cup) vegetable oil
2 tbs fresh lime juice
2 tbs finely grated lime rind
3 limes, thinly sliced, plus lime wedge, to serve

Margarita syrup

100g (½ cup) caster sugar
2 tbs fresh lime juice
60ml (¼ cup) tequila

Buttercream

5 egg whites
270g (1¼ cups) caster sugar
340g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature
100ml tequila
1 tbs fresh lime juice
Green and yellow gel food colouring, to tint

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan forced. Grease three 15cm (base size) round cake pans. Line bases and sides with baking paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Reserve 3 strawberries. Hull and cut remaining into 1-2cm pieces.

Use electric beaters on medium to beat sugar and eggs in a bowl for 3 minutes or until thick and creamy. Beat in milk, oil, juice and rind until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture. Beat until just combined. Divide among pans. Smooth surface. Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centres comes out clean. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Turn onto a sheet of baking paper.

To make syrup, stir sugar, juice and 60ml (¼ cup) water in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Stir in tequila. Prick warm cakes all over with a skewer. Drizzle over syrup.

To make buttercream, combine egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Place over a pan of simmering water (make sure bowl doesn’t touch water). Whisk until sugar dissolves and reaches 70°C on a cook’s thermometer. Use electric beaters on high to whisk for 10 minutes or until almost at room temp. On low speed gradually add butter, beating well after each addition, until smooth. Add tequila, juice and a pinch of salt. Beat until combined. Use colouring to tint. Transfer ½ cupful to a piping bag fitted with a 1cm-wide nozzle.

Line a baking tray with paper towel. Thinly slice reserved berries. Arrange on tray with lime slices. Gently press to remove moisture.

Use a serrated knife to trim and level top of each cake. Pipe a little buttercream in centre of a serving plate. Place 1 cake, base‑side down, on top. Spread a layer of buttercream over top of cake. Pipe a ring of buttercream around edge to create a dam. Fill with half the chopped strawberries. Top with second cake. Repeat to make another buttercream layer and dam, and fill with remaining chopped berries. Top with remaining cake. Thinly spread buttercream over top and side to create a crumb coat. Place in fridge for 20 minutes to chill.

Use a palette knife to spread buttercream around middle of cake. Leave top and bottom thirds exposed. Reserve a few lime slices. Press remaining sliced fruit onto this buttercream layer. Spread remaining buttercream above and below fruit. Use palette knife or cake scraper to smooth buttercream. Top with reserved lime and extra berries.

Recipe and image from The Sweet As Baking Cookbook, by taste.com.au, published by HarperCollins and reproduced with the publisher’s permission.

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