The nutty undertones the olive oil and rosemary bring to the lemon cake are a perfect combo for the warm nutty flavor of the brown butter frosting!
Doing the whole long distance thing has not been the most fun for us. It's very taxing and disconnecting. In short: I hate it. Long distance is completely lame.
Over the last few months though, we have started holding a weekly "Long Distance Date Night." We take turns planning and try to hold a night where we'll spend six or seven hours on the phone, doing the same activities, eating the same foods, etc. and try to make it like a real date if we can. My roommate mocks me because I'll even dress up. It just makes me feel more like it's a date, and not a crazy girl talking on the phone all night and watching movies alone.
One week I sent him a package with cookies, gumballs, and the movie Bedtime Stories. I wrote instructions on the outside of the package telling him to put on his pajamas, get a glass of milk, and then call me. We watched the movie together -a.k.a. the same time- ate cookies in our pajamas and he hasn't stopped saying "for freeeeeeeeee" since.
Another week didn't go as well. He wanted me to go to a dollar store. The idea was to buy cheap gifts for each other and mail them...........turns out the closest dollar store to me is in a VERY questionable part of DC. I decided to brave it, but while in the store, I turned a corner and walked into an aisle that was covered in graffiti...floor, items, shelves, all tagged with spray paint..........so I bolted for the door, and didn't look back.
This last week was a lot of fun. Stephen wanted us to cook together because he knows (all too well) how much I love cooking. His idea was for us to make dinner, a dessert and play games online. He's so cute! We were talking about what to make and he wanted to make cookies...........but owned none of the ingredients.........he's cute. We ended up on that classic little birthday treat I remember from elementary school of baking a cupcake inside an ice cream cone (which is perfect because it coincides with one of our sickeningly cute inside jokes!). We both made boxed cake mixes, pasta dinners and had fun sending each other photos the entire night.
Here are his pictures! He even sent me flowers for our date. Yep, we are corny.
Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake (from a mix)
1 lemon cake mix
Eggs and Water as the package directs
Replace the vegetable oil with olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
Mix and bake according to the package directions.
Brown Butter Buttercream
1/2 cup butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Place the butter in a 10” skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.
Whip (with a paddle attachment, not wisk!) butter till creamy. Then whip in powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Adjust the powdered sugar to taste.