margarita cakes

so, in my new cake love cookbook, there is a recipe for triple lime-chocolate crunchy feet that looked really good, so I decided to try them last night. of course, I made my own "tweaks" to the recipe, and they came out really good, if I do say so myself!


crust ingredients
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt

dry ingredients
2 cups cake flour (all-purpose flour will also work)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup white chocolate or vanilla chips (I used milk chocolate, but I think the white chocolate or vanilla would be better)

liquid ingredients
2 limes
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons tequila (tequila with lime if you have it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

creaming ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ounces cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
2 tablespoons lime zest
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks

26 small brioche pans

to prepare the brioche pans

1. in a small bowl, mix together the turbinado sugar and the kosher salt for the crust
2. place the brioche pans on sheet pans and spray them liberally with a cooking spray. sprinkle a pinch of the crust mixture into each brioche pan.

prepare the dry ingredients

1. sift the flour, cornstarch, and baking soda together into a medium bowl
2. add the salt and chips to the bowl and use a fork to gently combine

preheat the oven to 350 and set the racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions

prepare the liquid ingredients

1. zest the lime and set aside for use with the creaming ingredients
2. juice the limes into a medium bowl and add the remaining liquid ingredients, whisking to combine

prepare the creaming ingredients

1. mince the lime zest
2. crack the eggs and the egg yolks into two separate bowls and set aside cream together the butter and the cream cheese in a large mixer bowl with the paddle attachment
   
3. add the sugars and the lime zests beating on the lowest speed until well combined, 3 to 4 minutes
4. with the mixer still on low speed, add the eggs one at a time followed by the egg yolks, fully incorporating after each addition
5. add the dry ingredient mixture alternately with the liquid mixture in 3 to 5 additions each, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. (move swiftly through this step to avoid over working the batter; don't wait for the dry or liquid mixtures to be fully incorporated before adding the next)
6. stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl; stirring to combine any clumps of ingredients at the bottom of the bowl. mix on medium speed an additional 20 to 5 seconds to develop the batter's structure

1. pour the batter into the prepared pans so that they are three-quarter's full.
2. bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the tops of the cakes don't jiggle in the center and they are blonde across the top and browned around the edges. a cake tester should show just a touch of crumbs when they are done baking remove from oven and place brioche pans inverted on a cooling rack
3. after the cakes have cooled for 3 to 4 minutes on the cooling rack, remove them from the brioche pans (you make have to tap each pan firmly to release the cake)
4. return the cakes to the cooling rack to cool completely before enjoying or storing up to one week covered at room temperature