MARGARITA CAKE BALLS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 13x9 pan.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl w/hand mixer) combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, water 1/2 cup tequila, lime juice, and 1 tsp zest and mix on medium-high speed for 2 minutes or until batter becomes fluffy. (Remember to keep 2 tsp tequila and 1 tsp zest separate.)
• Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Let cool for at least 15 minutes, then brush the top of the cake with 2 tsp tequila & sprinkle remaining zest over the top. Let cake cool completely, up to overnight. Just before assembly, use a fork or your hands to break up the cake into fine crumbs, removing any large crusty pieces from the cake's edges.
• To make the frosting, combine cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or bowl w/hand mixer) and beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar in half cup increments and blend until there are no lumps. Add the lime juice and tequila and blend until combined.
• To assemble, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Thoroughly mix 1/2 of your frosting into the crumbled cake mixture. Test your "dough" to see if it is sticky enough to form a ball without crumbling. Add more icing if needed, until consistency is almost that of a thick cookie dough (no dry cake balls!).
• Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (you could also do this the night before) - it will make it easier to roll into balls.
• Using your hands, roll chilled cake mixture into 1 inch balls. Place on lined baking sheet. When done, place baking sheet in freezer and let cake balls chill for 30 minutes. This step is optional, but it helps the cake balls keep their shape and prevents crumbs from getting in the candy bark and thus, causing lumpy coating.
• While cake balls are chilling, microwave 1/2 a package of vanilla candy bark in a small bowl, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. If desired, add oil-based food coloring (it must be oil-based! water-based will cause your candy coating to seize up) to achieve your desired shade of margarita green. Note: You will probably run out of coating and need to make more but I prefer to dip in two shifts in case crumbs begin to get into the coating.
• It's time to dip! Coating cake balls is kind of an art. It takes practice so if your cake balls don't come out looking perfectly don't worry about it! It took me several tries to develop a successful method. Regardless of what they look like, they'll still taste magical. Promise.
• Place a cake ball into the bowl of melted candy coating and use a spoon to cover with coating. Lift the cake ball out of the coating with a fork and tap against the rim of the bowl to remove excess.
• Use a toothpick to gently push the cake ball back on to a parchment or foil cookie sheet (or onto your counter, lined with parchment paper). Make sure you push the cake ball from the bottom so you don't smudge your coating.
• While the coating is still wet, give your cake ball a healthy sprinkling of decorating sugar and a tiny pinch of salt, if desired.