Margarita Cake

The first time I had margarita cake was at the senior picnic sponsored by my college -- a cake inspired by my favorite alcoholic beverage to me meant a match made in heaven so when I found this recipe online I had to try it.

Ingredients:

Crust 
-1-1/2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/3 cup butter, melted
-2 tablespoons bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix

Cake
-1 box white cake mix
-1-1/4 cups bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix
-2 tablespoons tequila (optional)
-1/3 cup oil
-1 tablespoon grated lime peel (about 1 lime)
-3 eggs
-1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease the bottom of a 13x9 pan.

In a medium bowl mix all of the ingredients for the crust.

Then spread evenly into the 13x9 pan.

Now mix all of the cake ingredients together and beat with an electric mixer -- pour the batter over the pretzel crust.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Cover with the whipped topping and store in the refrigerator.


The margarita cake that inspired me to try this recipe had only a hint of lime -- this cake has a really strong lime flavor -- however mixed with the saltiness of the pretzels the lime flavor isn't necessarily a bad thing. When I make this again, I think I use less margarita mix in the cake.

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cupcakes

Ingredients:
- 1 package plain devil's food cake.
- 1 can cherry pie filling (21 ounces)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract

This recipe comes from Anne Bryn's book The Cake Mix Doctor and can be found on page fifty. The original recipe made a full sized cake with chocolate glaze --  I opted for cupcakes because they're easier to eat.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix the cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs and almond extract in a bowl. Blend.

Bake the cupcakes according to the package directions.

Frost and serve.

This is such a great and inexpensive way to dress up a simple box of cake mix. As someone who doesn't always enjoy cherries I didn't find the cherry flavor to be overwhelming, but rather a nice compliment to the chocolate cake. Everyone should add this to their to make list!