Cake & Pie!

We had a little send off party at the office for my friend, Sara, on July 30th...for which I made cake and pie.  Beat that!

It's a little inside joke.

I found some really delicious recipes though and thought I'd share the links here!

Guinness Oatmeal Stout Pie and Root Beer Cake

I'm sure you'll all think less of me because, in the interest of time, I used a frozen pie crust and (gasp!) store bought frosting!  I know...I know.  But it had to be done.  I also had to use good old A&W root beer because the bodega near my apartment didn't carry any natural sodas....can you imagine? :)

I want to make both of these again so I can tweak the root beer cake and make my own frosting.  It was SO sweet (though no one but me seemed to have a problem with that)! 

The pie was totally kick ass. Maybe some day when I have more counter space I'll attempt to make my own pie crust. Until that day, Fresh Direct carries a great frozen one!

It was a rather hilarious evening of slightly manic baking...complete with flour-y footprints all over my hard wood floor!  It was well worth it though.

We miss you Sara!

XO

An Office Birthday

For my boss' birthday I made a limoncello tart (with homemade limoncello, no less!)

I also got some heavy cream and whipped it up with a little lemon juice, confectioners sugar, and lemon extract...



I was afraid there wouldn't be enough tart to go around and so I figured people could have the cream with the tart or with the extra berries, which I had put on the side.






I don't fool around... :)

xo

Limoncello Tart from The Houston Chronicle

• 2 large eggs
• Yolk of 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 1/4 cup limoncello
• 6 tablespoons butter, cut in pieces
• 1 (9-inch) pie crust
• Seasonal berries to garnish
  

Bring water to a simmer in bottom of a double boiler.

Meanwhile, place eggs, yolk and sugar in top part of double boiler, and beat together off the heat.

Whisk in lemon juice and zest, and place mixture over simmering water, making sure pan doesn't touch the water.

Whisk until curd thickens, about 5 minutes, being careful not to let it boil.

Remove from heat. Stir in limoncello and butter until butter has melted.

Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, and spread in pie shell. Chill until set, at least 6 hours. When ready to serve, garnish with berries.

Makes 6 servings.

I bought a ready-made graham cracker crust...and found that even after setting up in the fridge for over 24 hours, the pie was very soupy. I'm going to improvise with it and make it more of a pudding or trifle...I'll post, of course.