Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Comfort Cakes: Pear Spiced Bundt and Raspberry Vanilla

Pear Spice Cake

Oh March. In like a lion indeed. Had your foot of snow come in late November, I'd have been delighted. But this week? Now? I'm despondent. And cold!

Yesterday my friend Emily briefly considered saying goodbye to the cruel snowy world by throwing herself in front of the plow. What saved her? Brownies. She baked, and life was better. I can relate. A cozy apartment, a warm cake right out of the oven--almost enough to make me forget this wicked weather.

For Valentine's Day, J. and I once again stayed home and cooked together, finishing late in the evening with the Pear Spice Bundt Cake above. It's from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, made moist and fragrant by a homemade carmel-y pear sauce. It got better throughout the week as the spices mellowed throughout the entire cake. For the full recipe, click here and scroll down.


Raspberry Cake

This dessert, a simple raspberry vanilla cake, was whipped up last Friday for a dinner with friends. Of course, that night it wasn't snowing, but raining (also depressing). However, a warm cake on your lap while you take the cross-town bus makes the weather a bit more bearable. The golden raspberries came from my favorite neighborhood grocery store, Barzini's, and the recipe came from Epicurious. The original called for marsala and a side of creme fraiche. I substituted Patron Citronge for the sweet wine, and skipped the sides. I also used a smaller pan than called for, which wasn't ideal, but our hosts didn't seem to mind the dark brown edges. After all, at least we weren't out in the rain.

13 comments:

Maris said...

This pear cake sounds so good! Perfect flavors for the tail end (we hope!) of winter.

Erin S. said...

Maris--it was great! My husband and I ate the leftovers for breakfast all week :)

Pink of Perfection said...

Love all the bundt cakes! This sounds really fabulous, and i love the idea of cake for breakfast. Now that's living. :)

Unknown said...

Hey Erin - this does look delicious, Everett and I wanted to make a pear tart this weekend but I think I'll do this one instead. He will love mashing the pears up. love to you and your hubby, hope all is well.

Anonymous said...

Worth waiting for.
Golden raspberries- yum!
Cold as beejeezus again here today...

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Anonymous said...

Yum..this cake sounds quite nice...i really enjoyed the thought of cake for breakfast. sounds great.

Max mickle said...

Yummi!!!!the pear cake with vanilla looks good. I am sure they are great to eat as well. I an going to try the recipe in my next party.

cialis online said...

It looks delicious specially with a cup of coffee with a little bit of Scotch. It is the best combination.

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