Tag Archives: limoncello

Eton Mess

19 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Desserts, Easy, Entertaining

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Eton Mess

The Eton Mess is one of the easiest desserts on the planet, AND it can look totally messy and you don’t have to worry about it, because it’s already in the name and it’ll taste good no matter what! As you can see, I spilled all over my serving tray and everyone managed to survive…

Eton Mess with my favorites

This recipe also kicks off one thing I have always wanted to do – “Cook the Cover” of all of my favorite cookbooks! As you can see above, we are clearly channeling the cover of Ina Garten’s “How Easy Is That?” cookbook. And clearly Ina’s desserts had a little more cream in them than fruit…Oops! But hey, it’s a fun project, and strangely enough, I don’t think I have ‘cooked the cover’ of any of my other cookbooks. I mean, the recipe on the cover of a cookbook HAS to be delicious and foolproof, right?

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Thirsty Throwback Thursday | Homemade Limoncello

21 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Boozy, Entertaining, Events, Holidays, Thirsty Thursday

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_MG_1253 _MG_1250 Lauren&JordanRehearsal_08 Lauren&JordanRehearsal_07

Here’s a #throwbackthursday for you: Homemade Limoncello! We made Limoncello as a favor for our guests at our Italian-Inspired Rehearsal Dinner in August. All photos above are from the wonderful and talented Jesse Amorratanasuchad, who did our Wedding Videography and Rehearsal Dinner Photography. You can find his website over here.

Below are a few shots I took from the Limoncello making process. Making Limoncello is not for the impatient!Limoncello

I never really saw myself making any sort of homemade booze. Ever. Drinking it, YES! Making it, waiting for it to be ready, taking care of it…No.

Bottles

At this point, I have no memory of whose idea it was to make homemade Limoncello for our rehearsal dinner favors. I mean, are you even supposed to have favors at your rehearsal dinner?!? I guess it was different, perhaps we got a little too into the whole “We both studied abroad in Italy, our rehearsal dinner MUST BE AUTHENTIC ITALIAN” theme…But hey, homemade Limoncello is an experience. The excessive amount of lemons, small bottles, and love that went into the production of these boozy little gifts was something to be proud of.

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Notes: We bought our bottles from Wholesale Glass Bottles and Jordan designed the little print-at-home stickers that went on the bottles. We still have a few bottles left…and the Limoncello is still good to go even though we made it many months ago. If you are looking for a fun and boozy project, Limoncello is a great gift for people around the holidays!

I think we tripled the recipe below, but we had about 75 people at our rehearsal dinner! (lots of out of town family…) At some point, the math got lost on me and I made Jordan figure out all conversions…So either stick with the recipe below, or I will hope you are good at math!

Recipe
Homemade Limoncello
adapted from the Cooking Channel
Makes about 1.75 liters or 2 quarts

Ingredients

  • 7 ripe lemons, thoroughly washed and dried
  • 4 1/4 cups 100 PROOF Vodka (high proof vodka is a must, if you are brave, use everclear)
  • 4 1/4 cups water
  • 1 pound sugar

Directions

Shave off the yellow part of the lemon rinds using a potato peeler. Put the lemon rinds in a sterilized large glass bottle and add the alcohol. Cover the bottle with plastic wrap to prevent the alcohol from evaporating, and let stand for 12 days at room temperature. We put ours in a dark closet.

Boil the water. Remove from heat and add the sugar. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved, and let cool. 

Drain the 12-day old alcohol and discard the lemon rinds. Add the alcohol to the sugared water. Set aside for an additional 10 days in a sterilized sealed glass bottle. 

After 10 days, the limoncello is ready. These are the ways we suggested to serve it to our guests:
Homemade Limoncello

Very Berry Summer Pudding Cake

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in Desserts, Easy, Entertaining, Events, Healthy

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Very Berry Summer Pudding Cake

Very Berry Summer Pudding Cake

This cake was a very pleasant surprise. I have my mother, the lovely Lulu, to Thank for this one.

Very Berry

When I was originally skimming through Southern Living I saw this beautiful photo of the cake, but I wasn’t sure what to think. Is that some weird jello mold with fruit? How is it not falling apart everywhere? Weird, I thought, blowing it off and not really paying attention to how easy, simple, and healthy this dessert is overall! No jello whatsoever! Fruit, sugar, booze and ladyfingers, that’s it! A perfect make-ahead summer dessert that’s totally different from your standard strawberry shortcake.

Very Berry

My mom swapped out orange liqueur for Limoncello, and used some frozen berries instead of fresh (the original recipe also calls for cherries, probably a very good way to go but we aren’t quite to cherry season here yet).

Very Berry

She called me and said, “I really want to make that berry cake from Southern Living!” At first I didn’t even know what she was talking about, then I said, “Oh, that weird berry cake mold thing? It looks…difficult.” Nope. Moms are always right. This is worth making again and again. It’s easy, and you don’t even have to feel guilty about having dessert!

Very Berry

Recipe
Very Berry Summer Pudding Cake
Adapted from Southern Living
Serves 8-10

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
  • 5 cups frozen mixed berries (we used a mixed bag of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries from Costco)
  • 2 cups fresh raspberries
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup limoncello
  • 3 (3-oz.) packages soft ladyfingers
  • Garnishes: fresh berries, fresh mint sprigs, whipped cream or ice cream

Preparation

  1. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large, heavy stainless steel saucepan; let stand 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup water, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes or just until berries begin to break down and release their juices. Remove from heat, and stir in limoncello; cool 20 minutes.
  2. Line a 2-qt. soufflé dish or spring-form pan with plastic wrap. Spoon 1 cup berry mixture into prepared dish, spreading to cover bottom. Arrange ladyfingers in a single layer on berry mixture, pressing together and trimming as needed to fit snugly and cover berry mixture. Repeat layers twice, dividing remaining berry mixture evenly between layers.
  3. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and place a small plate (approximately the same diameter as the inside of the dish) directly on top. Place 2 or 3 heavy cans on plate, and chill 12 hours. Unmold pudding onto a serving plate.