With Cinco de Mayo just around the corner, we have revisited an old favorite- a homemade Margarita Cake!
Cocktail-inspired cake are so unique and festive for parties, and this amazing margarita cake is no exception!
With this recipe, we’ve improved on our original Margarita Cake, adding even more lemon-lime flavor, plus an added kick from our tequila-lime buttercream! The result is BIG flavor, and a dessert that is PERFECT for spring and summer fiestas ;0)
How to Make a Margarita Cake from Scratch
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the flower, baking powder and salt, whisking for 30 seconds.
- In a separate bowl, thawed margarita mix, oil, and vanilla and set aside. The Frozen margarita mix is the key ingredient for this cake’s wonderful tanginess.
- Time for mixing! Cream the softened butter and slowly add the sugar beating at medium speed for 4-5 minutes until it’s lightened and fluffy!
- Next, add the dry ingredients alternately with the margarita mix mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Divide the batter between three 8 inch pans and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
Tips for Extra Moist Cakes
- Whether we are working with a cake mix recipe or a homemade cake, we like to wrap and freeze our freshly baked layers individually, while they are still warm. When you do this, something magical will happen to your cake layers!
- When I remove cakes from the oven, I allow them to cool for about 10 minutes on cooling racks before flipping them out, wrapping in plastic wrap, and then in foil. (If you are only wrapping for a few days or less, you can get buy with double wrapping in plastic wrap only).
- Then, into the freezer they go until it’s almost time to decorate. Allow a few hours for thawing before decorating. Simply remove from the freezer and allow the wrapped cakes to begin to thaw on the kitchen counter. Condensation will form on the foil (rather than the cake).
- Decorate your cake layers when thawed (or partially thawed if you’d prefer to work with less fragile cake layers).
- Cake layers that have been carefully wrapped will last up to three months in the freezer and will taste as fresh as the day they were made (and they’ll be more moist too)!
Delicious Tequila Lime Buttercream
- This recipe is just like any other American Buttercream Frosting, only rather than milk only, the liquid also includes lime juice and tequila! This is a crusting, easily pipeable recipe and it comes together in minutes.
- We tinted our Tequila Lime frosting with a little Americolor Electric Green for a nice lime green shade. You can leave it white if you prefer!
- We used just three tablespoons of tequila for a generous batch of buttercream frosting and still found it to be very noticeable, however, you have some wiggle room! If you’d like to add a bit more, alter it to your liking!
- As you can see in the photo, I just bought a tiny bottle of tequila for a couple of dollars since I didn’t need much. I felt like I had to explain myself to the cashier when I walked into the ABC store for my bottle of tequila at 9AM! It was totally worth it though, the buttercream is fabulous!
Whether you are celebrating Cinco de Mayo, or are just looking for a creative and festive party cake, this Margarita Cake is a new favorite of mine for summertime! Just the name alone makes me want to dive right in! Your friends and family are sure to love it. Enjoy!
If you prefer to work with cake mixes, we also have a fabulous Margarita Cake Mix recipe! This doctored mix recipe is a delicious alternative to our scratch version, and in our step by step tutorial, you will also learn to create a CUTE Margarita Glass Cake Topper from gum paste.
So much fun! No matter which margarita cake recipe you choose, this Margarita Cake Topper would be adorable! I love the painted details and additional height that it gives to the cake.
If you love cocktail-inspired desserts like this one, don’t miss our Piña Colada Cake recipe also! This fabulous cake features ultra moist Coconut cake layers with a simple, flavorful crushed pineapple filling and a hint of rum. Isn’t it pretty? Yum!
Thanks for stopping by! If you try our Margarita Cake recipe, we’d love to hear what you think!
Margarita Cake with Tequila Lime Buttercream
This Margarita Cake with Tequila Lime Buttercream is the perfect party cake! Moist, wonderful lemon-lime-flavor, and an added kick from the tequila buttercream!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 stick (½ cup) (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¾ (350g) sugar
- 4 eggs, room temperature ( eggs can be warmed by putting in a bowl of warm water)
- 3 cups (342g) cake flour - **if you do not have cake flour, see note below
- 1 Tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon (15g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
- 1 ¼ cup (326 g) frozen Margarita Mix, thawed (we used 10 oz can Bacardi brand non-alcoholic frozen concentrated mixer)
- ¼ cup (50g) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla
- **Substitution for Cake Flour: For each cup of all purpose flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of the all purpose flour and replace with 2 tablespoons cornstarch. For this recipe, you will measure out 3 cups all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoon flour and replace with 6 Tablespoons of cornstarch. Whisk to blend.
For the Tequila Lime Buttercream
- 2 cups (4 sticks) (453g) unsalted butter, softened
- 10 to 12 cups (1150g to 1380g) powdered sugar (measure by lightly spooning to a cup, then sift. I used 12 cups.)
- 1 teaspoon (6g) salt - popcorn salt melts into the buttercream more easily
- 4 Tablespoon (49g) lime juice (2 small limes)
- 3 Tablespoons (37g) tequila
- 2 teaspoons (11g) milk - milk is optional, you could also use lime juice or tequila
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans. Use parchment paper or wax paper in the bottom of each pan.
- In a medium sized bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk for 30 seconds to blend and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add the thawed Margarita Mix, oil and vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, cream the softened butter. Slowly add the sugar and beat at medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, blending after each until the yellow is blended into the mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients alternately with the margarita mix mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients ( 3 additions of dry and 2 additions of wet ingredients).
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool in pans 10 minutes then turn out.
- Also works well for cupcakes. Makes 7 cups of batter.
For the Frosting...
- For the frosting, mix the softened butter until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, salt, tequila, lime juice and milk. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes adding a bit more liquid if needed or more powdered sugar if too thin. Reduce speed of mixer to low and mix 3 more minutes or until the buttercream is creamy and smooth.
Thanks for stopping by! Don’t forget to check out our full collection of FAVORITE cake and frosting recipes in our Recipes section. You can also find our BEST Cakes for Spring and Summer HERE!
If you are interested in learning more about cake decorating, we’d love for you to check out our free cake tutorial section, which also features a free cake video section! If you’d like to learn even more about cake decorating, we would love for you to become a member!
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This is just beautiful. You do such wonderful work, Melissa!!
i just love this so much! how cute! GREAT job and thanks!
My birthday is Cinco de Mayo and my favorite drink, margarita! so I am making my own birthday cake! I cant wait to taste it!
I can’t wait to make this cake!!
Sounds delish! I’ll add that to my To Do List :-) I mastered the Dreamsicle Cake Recipe – OMGosh it’s awesome and I believe this will be too! Thanks for all the fabulous recipes they keep my down time busy experimenting with your recipes :-)
Can I jut add the margarita mix to a box of white cake mix?
@MsGF- Thanks!! I hope that you’re going to make a Gluten Free Cake Book one day with all of the experimenting that you do! xoxo
@Dora- We haven’t experimented with this yet but I bet that you could make it work. You may be able to find something similar online from someone who has tried it with a doctored recipe! ;0)
Lovely
This is so pretty and sounds tasty too. Happy cinco de mayo! Ole!!!
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
Thanks Rita & Linda! ;0)
Hello, I think 1 stick of butter is 1/4 cup?
Hi Ilse, 1 stick of butter is 1/2 cup (113g)
Can this be made in two 9” pans?
Hi Patsy, You can bake in 9 inch pans. The finished cake will not be as high as it would in 3 eight inch pans, but it will be fine.
I am so excited to make this cake! But I can’t find frozen margarita mix anywhere near where I live! Can I use the mix in a bottle instead?
Hi Robi, We have not tried the mix in a bottle so I am not sure of the outcome. I don’t know if it is the same flavor intensity. If you give it a try, I would love to know if it works for you.
Can I use regular margarita non alcoholic mix instead of the frozen one
Hi Leela, I am sorry but we have only tried the frozen margarita mix so I am not sure how the unfrozen would work. It may not have the same intensity of flavor. Let us know if you give it a try.
instead of the non-alcoholic frozen mix, can I use the alcoholic frozen mix?
Hi Vickie, I think that should be fine.
Any idea how long to bake cupcakes?
Hi Lauren, about 18-20 minutes is usually a safe bet for cupcakes although you can take a peek a little sooner if they look ready. If they spring back when lightly touched, it’s time. Hope you like them!
I made this, as written, except that I used 2 – 9 inch pans, as one of my 8 inch pans was missing. I liked the idea of the frozen Bacardi margarita mix, for intense flavour. The batter looked beautiful. The layers tested done in my oven at 29 minutes. However, when I served it, I found the taste and texture created by the 1/4 cup of oil was somewhat overpowering. It made the cake quite dense. The oil I used was canola, and it was fresh. I liked everything about the recipe except the final taste and texture. Can you tell me if you have ever made it without the oil, or why you find the oil necessary? I would like these flavours in a fluffier cake, if possible.
Made for my moms 70th , the icing is amazing !
Hello, if making cupcakes with this recipe (Margarita Cake). How long do you cook cupcakes?
I need to make 250 cupcakes for a vendor event. How do I manage to make so many ahead of time and still keep them moist? I’m open to any suggestions or ideas?
Also, how long would you suggest to cook mini cupcakes?
Is there a non-alcoholic replacement that would taste as good?
Hi Donna, The margarita mix used in the cake is non-alcoholic. For the frosting, you can replace the 3 Tablespoons tequila with milk.
Thank you, BeBe!
Could you make this as a Bundy cake?
Hi Michael, Yes, it will be fine to bake this in a bundt pan. The recipe makes 7 cups batter so if you have a 12 cup bundt pan that would be good. If your pan is a 10 cup pan, you will have a little bit left over. Bundt pans should be filled no more than 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches from the top. Hope you will enjoy the cake.
I did not think that it would have been this easy to make a cake infused with tequila. I was able to make it properly once I started following the recipe word for word on the website.
That’s great, hope you enjoyed it!
I’m needing to bake this cake in a sheet pan. What size of sheet pan do you suggest?
Thanks for this great recipe. Can’t wait to give this a try.
Hi Teri, This recipe makes 7 cups batter, this will be enough for a 9×13 sheet pan. Hope you enjoy the cake.
can I use nonfrozen Margarita mix in this cake recipe?
Hi Tilesha, I am sorry but we have not tried using that. If you give it a try, let us know what you think. I am sure many would be interested in your response.
Hi Melissa, can I make mini cupcakes out of this mix? And if so, would you know how many mini cupcakes or even regular cupcakes for that matter can be made from this mix.
Also, seven cups of frosting sounds like a lot. Would you know how much frosting I would need to cover these cupcakes?
Hi RJ, We rarely make mini cupcakes so I am not sure of the number, there is probably a chart online . I think you would be able to make 30 standard size cupcakes. It is too much frosting for cupcakes. Cut the recipe in half. For a softer frosting on the cupcakes, reduce the sugar to less than half. As you are mixing you will check to see if it is consistency you like, adjusting the powdered sugar as needed. Hope this helps
Hello Melissa, the cake was a big hit. It smelled amazing when I took it out the oven. The cake wasn’t dense and everyone wanted me to make another one. I used three 9 inch pans which made the layers not as high but that was okay. Wonderful recipe..I’ll be making this cake again.
Hi Louise, thanks so much for your feedback. So glad that you all enjoyed it!