Thursday, May 28, 2009

Coming of Age Dessert


One of the factoids about myself that I like to put into those "how well do you know Lynn" quizzes is that I've worked as a bartender. Now, you might be getting a certain mental image with that. Put that image on hold while I tell you that at the time, I was 16. How did I do that? Where can you work as a bartender at sixteen? Well, in a dry state.

One of my first jobs was working at a dinner theater. I had the job of plating salads and desserts (and by plating, I mean slopping them onto a plate - nothing artistic involved), and then putting together set-ups for the patrons' drink orders. The patrons would then have to go buy mini-bottles of liquor, the kind they sell on airplanes, and pour those into their set-ups to make a fully leaded drink.

So for a long time, although I knew how to make a set-up for a greyhound, a screwdriver, or a strawberry margarita, I had no clue what kind of alcohol went into them.



The strawberry margarita was kind of a house speciality. We had buckets of sliced strawberries in sugar syrup and we'd scoop some into the blender along with some ice, blend it to the consistency of a Slurpee, pour it into a tall glass, and add a slice of lime for a garnish. Ta da! Virgin Margarita.

This pie combines two of my skills from that job - drinks + dessert. Or drinks in dessert. And there's definitely booze involved. If you have kids around, they'll want a slice of this cool, creamy dessert. Have some strawberry ice cream on hand to placate them, because this is definitely a dessert for grown-ups only.



You can tell I didn't let it freeze overnight. The center was a bit on the deliciously oozy side. No one minded a bit.

Strawberry Margarita Pie
 
2 c. hulled fresh strawberries
10 tbsp. sugar
1 3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 c. sweetened condensed milk
7 tbsp. tequila
6 tbsp. Triple Sec
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 c. chilled whipping cream
8 fresh strawberries (opt.)


Butter 9 inch springform pan. You can use a deep pie plate, if a springform pan is unavailable. Toss 2 cups strawberries with 4 tablespoons sugar in small bowl. Blend remaining 6 tablespoons sugar, cracker crumbs and butter in processor. Press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of pan.

Puree strawberries and sugar with milk, tequila, Triple Sec and lime juice in blender or processor. Transfer to large bowl. In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of cream into puree. Gently fold in remaining cream. Pour filling into crust. Cover and freeze until firm, preferably overnight.

Run hot sharp knife around pan sides to loosen if necessary. Release pan sides. Cut pie into wedges. Top each wedge with strawberry, if desired.

22 comments:

Debbie said...

If that doesn't sound absolutely delicious than I don't know what does. It looks beautiful!

CookiePie said...

That sounds delicious and I love the pics!

NKP said...

That looks absolutely delicious! Such a lovely colour too.

Michelle said...

This looks so delicious!

Unknown said...

Oooh yumm this is perfect for summer!!

Anonymous said...

hahaha bartender at 16!? this pie looks SOOOOO good!!

Justin said...

oh man, tequila and triple sec... this sounds awesome

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

You'll always surprise me I'm sure! This is totally gorgeous. Gooey in the middle sounds divine; made to order for me.

Jennifer Jo said...

I'm so glad you posted this. We are just at the beginning of the strawberry season and will start drowning in them shortly. I'm looking for fun new recipes and this fits the bill. Thanks!

Melinda said...

How delightful. A drunk cake! I'm over 21, so I'll have a big slice...I'm not driving tonight!

Elyse said...

Man oh man, this pie looks incredible! A strawberry margarita pie sounds out of this world good. I can't believe that you were a 16 year-old bartender. How hysterical! I love that you knew how to make every single virgin drink possible. Great story!

Wellington Jobs said...

I'm starving :0

Sarah said...

Ahh mom, you learned so many life lessons at the dinner theater. Who knew a cute, 16 year old girl could learn to make virgin drinks, and learn so much other stuff little virgin ears shouldn't hear :-)

The cake was amazing, and the best part was Sean and having a wee little bit to much cake.

grace said...

i'm an alcohol-ignoramus. i know next to nothing about what goes into what drinks. i do know, however, that this pie is beautiful--the color and the texture are outstanding.

eatme_delicious said...

Yum what a perfect summer dessert!

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

I don't think I can say anything other than - WOW! 'Delicious and oozy' do it for me!

Katrina said...

Um, Yum! Looks de-lish! So does the pear soup and the XXX cookies!

Peabody said...

Mmm, what a refreshing looking pie. Love me some strawberry margaritas.

Aimée said...

Wow, Lynn, I must try this. If only the weather would warm up, I could conceive eating a frozen dessert. Bookmarked for July and strawberry season!

Jennifer Jo said...

Made it, liked it, posted it. Thanks!

Vanessa said...

Yumm! It looks delicious. I will try to make it. Thanks for posting this blog.

Diane said...

I just re-read this and decided it is time to throw off winter and make a lovely dessert. I'm pretty sure this is the one!