now, you, too can bake my award losing pie. by Elyse Manning

Elyse Manning is my friend and the oft-mentioned spiritual and baking adviser for My Life in Cake, and today, she's our guest blogger! Please enjoy her tale of triumph and pain in pie-making:

elyse's deeply underappreciated irish cream pie

preheat oven to 350

1 cup sugar
2 tbls corn starch
pinch of salt

mix all this together in a small saucepan and set aside, now take

4 egg yolks (seperate the whites and put them aside for merengue)
2 1/2 cups whole milk

mix them together, then dump em in the saucepan with sugar mixture and cook over medium heat at first mix it every minute or so to break up lumps, but after about 5 minutes you wanna mix it constantly to keep the bottom from burning. when it starts getting thicker, add

2 tbls butter
4 tbls irish cream liquor (i used baily's, but please, don't be a label queen, anything good will do)

leave on heat for another 45 seconds or so, then pull off heat for 30 seconds then put on heat again for another minute, stirring all the while, fun! pour immediatley into a pre-baked pie crust, and cover with plastic wrap to keep the filling piping hot while you make the

merengue
4 (or more if your feeling fiesty) egg whites
pinch of salt
pinch of cream of tartar (if you don't have it, don't stress, it just helps the process along a bit)

whip up at "high speed" and slowly add
1/4 cup powdered sugar
beat it still it forms fairly stiff peaks (eh-hem), then take the plasic wrap off the pie, spread the merengue on, make it look pretty, cause it will hold it's shape, and bake it for about 10 minutes or so, keep a good eye on it, and pull it out when it gets all pretty and golden-tipped.

Now, honestly, here's where i messed up y'all, you SHOULD let it cool completely on a rack, then put it in the fridge for at least 2 hrs to chill and set. you SHOULD NOT stay up too late in the s.m.s. kitchen waiting for some sorry-ass game of wizards to never start, drag your ass out of bed at 7:30, make the pie, then stick it in the freezer to make up for your lack of cooling time, then dress like a total witch with bright red hair and bring your wobbly-ass pie to some small town fair, past the guys in the prison jumpsuits doing community service who are laughing at YOU for being a freak and give your pie to some pinch faced ole biddy who is looking at you like you maybe put some wierd drugs in it.
don't do that.... i tried it already and we see where that got me

good luck.