Margarita Cheesecake Cake with Margarita Bark Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 — 9 ” cake pans with nonstick spray; set aside. Line the pans with parchment paper rounds.

Making the Cake:

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

With your mixer beat butter and shortening until creamy.

Gradually add sugar and beat until well blended scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary.

Add vanilla, juices and zest; beat until light and fluffy.

Add flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with flour.

In a clean bowl, beat the remaining 5 egg whites until white peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into batter until just incorporated; do not over mix as the egg whites will deflate.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing a little over 3½ cups of batter per cake pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick test clean; Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.

While cakes are warm, brush them with the simple syrup; let stand until completely cooled before assembling and frosting.

Prepare the Margarita Simple Syrup:

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water and juices.

Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves completely and mixture comes to a boil.

Remove pan from heat; stir in tequila and liqueurs; set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

Prepare the Cream Cheese Buttercream:

With your mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla on medium speed; increase mixer speed to high and continue beating until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary.

Gradually add 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, beating on low speed until well combined; beat on high speed until well combined and smooth, about 1 minute.

Making the Cheesecake Layer:

With your mixer, beat the cream cheese, cornstarch and sugar until well combined.

Add the eggs one at a time beating until blended.

Next add the whipping cream and flavoring.

Line a 9″ cake pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake on 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Refrigerate overnight, turn out onto parchment, wrap and place in freezer while you prepare the cake.

Assembling the Cake:

Place one cake layer on serving plate and cover with some of the frosting.

Next add the cheesecake layer, trimming to fit the same size as the bottom cake layer.

Add more frosting on top of the cheesecake layer and place top layer on top.

Use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of cake.

Cover the sides and a bit of the top edge with the Macadamia Crunch Topping.

Making the Margarita Bark:

Add 2 tablespoons of tequila to the Ghirardelli White Chocolate before microwaving at increments of 30 seconds, stirring each time.

When smooth and melted, spread thin on parchment paper.

Add the Sweetened Lime Juice to the Lime Green melts and microwave them in 30 seconds increments, stirring each time.

When smooth and melted, drop by spoonfuls onto the white chocolate. Swirl with toothpick to get desired look. Sprinkle with the sparkling sugar.

Place in refrigerator or freezer to harden through.

Break into pieces and add to the top of the cake decoratively.

Refrigerate cake until ready to slice and serve. Enjoy!