Strawberry Stew Pie

It was gorgeous and sunny here all weekend (though cold), but I had to endure working in the cold, dark shop both days. Now of course on my day off, it's dark and rainy again. Just in time for me to enjoy day! So instead of my planned trail walk, I'm spending my morning with piping hot coffee, some BBC shows, and a new knitting project-guess I can't complain about that!! In my downtime, I figured I'd share my fabulous flop of an Easter dessert!

I was scheduled to work this Easter, and was going to miss my extended family's dinner get together. Luckily, though, my bosses decided we could close that day, and I was called upon to bring dessert for our family get-together.

I instantly thought of making cupcakes with Cadbury eggs baked inside, and a vanilla buttercream and caramel drizzle to mimic the Cadbury flavors. It just sounds like a toothache in the making! However when I went to buy the eggs, I was not prepared to pay $6 just for the candy needed to make a dozen cupcakes. So I was forced to wrack my brain for something I could make, and know the ingredients off hand while I stood in the grocery store.

Nothing....nothing...mmm those strawberries on sale sure look fantastic. Still nothing...and then! I remembered seeing a picture of the most delicious looking strawberry pie on another blog, and I knew that was the way to go!

Ready to go, housewife style with my skirt apron over my Easter dress!

The next day I got home from church an hour and a half before I had to leave to drive North, so I was forced to use roll out pre-made pie crust from the grocery store. The pie itself was a cinch to put together, and I used a recipe that didn't add extra sugar (by using sugar-free preserves), and I was out the door in no time!

I have proof that it looked normal and delicious at one point!

 And then...disaster...

An ill-timed metered freeway ramp forced me to slam on my brakes and the pie was propelled right off the seat of my car, and a third of it sslid right off the edge of the pan and onto my floor. Strawberries everywhere!!

At these point in my life, I'm so used to the Murphy's Law being the story of all that I do, that most of the time (okay maybe 50/50), I'm able to just laugh it off and keep going.

I had to get a photo-op in with my masterpiece!

The intact 2/3 of the pie still went proudly into dinner with me, and people literally took spoons to it, and I was left with nothing to take home that night!

By the end of the night, my pie plate was wiped clean. Disaster or not, this pie is a hit!

Gimme s'more!

Summer's on it's way, and all I want to do it sit around a camp fire making s'mores. I want to have a big kid s'more party and have fun, different ingredients and we can all make our own unique s'mores. Let's do it!!

Mmm graham cracker crust and melted chocolate!

Top is off with some toast-y marshmallow goodness.

Okay, maybe just a s'more cupcake party! My old coworkers like these so much they called them s'moregasms. Trust me, they'll be a hit!

This s'more tart couldn't go to the party, but I'll enjoy it anyway!

And all that toast-y marshmallow love will definitely get you in the mood for some fun summer nights!!

Lemon Meringue Cake

So I'm currently on a diet...

And. It. SUCKS. Two years ago (I can't believe it was that long ago!) I decided to lose weight. I dropped 40 lbs. A year later I lost another 10. This year I realized I'd quit trying, and decided to really put my all into getting down to a healthy weight. I lost 8 lbs in three weeks, and was feeling really good about that. Then I decided to try a no carb, no dairy, no fruit, no fun diet. There are parts of it that are obviously great-more vegetables, less sugar. I lost 3.8 lbs my first week, but it has shown next to no results this week.

It's SO frustrating to be eating so restrictively (I just want an apple!), and to see a 1.2 lb change. The nice thing is the once a week cheat day, where you can eat anything (no really, anything and everything!) you want. It keeps you from cheating throughout the week knowing you get an opportunity to in just a few days. However, it also makes you absolutely obsess over food the day before your cheat day. All day long you just think about all the food you want to cram the following day.

So. I'm finished. I'm finished eating nothing but eggs, beans, vegetables, and turkey meat. I want...oatmeal, and toast and peanut butter, and a granny smith apple for goodness sake! After 8 lbs. in three weeks, I'm not sure why I decided to try anything else.

I still want to lose 33 lbs. But I haven't ever dieted to get to this point, and I'm done trying now. For me it was always about simply making better choices, and all things in moderation.

I'm currently making the most ridiculous, outrageously delicious, and incredibly bad for you dessert ever. Tonight, at small group, I'm going to have a small slice, completely guilt free. I can't wait. And in the mean time, I'm going to share this cake with you. Seriously, just make this. They're also super awesome as cupcakes-trust me!

Lemon Meringue Cake

Lemon Cake
From Life or something like it...

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (Can be substituted with 1 cup milk + 2 tsp. vinegar-let sit 10 minutes before use)

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice, mixing until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition, and scraping the bowl down. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk.

Pour into two greased 9 in. cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.



Lemon Curd
3 sheets gelatin
generous 3/4 cup lemon juice
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups + 3 Tablespoons sugar
1/8 tsp cornstarch
2 1/2 sticks butter

Bloom gelatin in ice cold water, set aside. If you're using gelatin powder, you'll want to bloom 1 teaspoon in a small amount of cold water, and you may need to adjust the liquid in the recipe to make up for the difference.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Set aside. Bring the lemon juice to a boil, and pour slowly into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and simmer for 3 minutes.

Whisk in the butter and gelatin, and let chill.



Meringue
1 cup sugar
3 large egg whites

Mix together in the bowl of a stand mixture. Place bowl over pan of simmering water, mixing constantly until the temperature reaches 110˚F. If you're working without a thermometer, just heat until the mixture is slightly warmer than body temperature, and you don't feel sugar granules when you rub it between your fingers.

Whip the meringue on high speed until it reaches stiff peak consistency.


Assembling the cake
1. Cut each cake layer in half. Place first layer on plate, cover with lemon curd, top with next layer of cake. Repeat until the final layer is put on top.

2. Frost cake with meringue using a spatula.

3. Toast the meringue with a blow torch. (Or broil in the oven!)

4. Enjoy!