Pear & Cinnamon Cake

I bought a beautiful cookbook called Love Bake Nourish by Amber Rose while I was traveling in London a couple months ago.  This weekend, I finally got a chance to make one of her recipes.  While searching for the perfect fall treat for my brunch, I found her pear and cinnamon cake and knew it would be perfect.  She uses honey and maple syrup in place of granulated sugar, and hearty flours in place of all-purpose.  For this recipe, I used a cinnamon infused maple syrup that I found at Williams-Sonoma.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but this cake turned out delicious.  It wasn't too sweet, which I prefer, and it was very moist and dense.  I served it with yogurt and blackberries.  It was a perfect addition to a fall brunch.

Pear & Cinnamon Cake

[ by Amber Rose, Love Bake Nourish ]

200g unsalted butter, softened

200g white spelt four, sifted

3 large free-range eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

200g maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pear peeled, cored & finely grated

unrefined icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a cake tin.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until pale and fluffy.  Add 2-3 tablespoons of flour and beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Continue to beat until you have a light fluffy mixture.  Fold in the rest of the flour, the baking powder and cinnamon.  Then add the maple syrup, vanilla extract and pear, folding in gently until thoroughly combined

Scape the mixture into your prepared cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out of the tin.

Autumn Brunch

This weekend I had some friends over for brunch to see my new apartment.  It's very quaint, so I set all of the food on the coffee table and we gathered around to eat and catch up with each other.  To celebrate Fall, I kept the menu seasonal.  We had pumpkin spice coffee (thank you, trader joes!), pear ginger bellinis, pumpkin granola with yogurt and berries, pear and cinnamon cake, and a spinach and feta frittata.  We also taste tested fresh croissants and scones from a couple bakeries in the city that we have been wanting to try.  It turned out delicious, and was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

The Recoil

A friend at work told me about this cocktail and as she was telling me the ingredients my mouth started watering.  I made it that night and it was even better than I imagined.  It's perfectly sweet (not too sweet) and very refreshing.  The spicy ginger beer adds a perfect touch to the light and refreshing lime and St. Germain.  I definitely recommend you try this one!  

1 1/2 ounces bourbon (I used Bulleit)

1/2 ounce St. Germain

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

Ginger Beer (I recommend Fever Tree)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the first 3 ingredients – shake very well.  Strain into a glass filled with ice and top with ginger beer.  Garnish with a lime and enjoy!

Dinner Party At Home

[ Featured on Style Me Pretty Living ]

I had my talented photographer friend, Bryce Covey, come over to take a few photographs of a recent dinner party I threw with my mom at my parent's beautiful home.  We were celebrating my boyfriend's graduation with our two families - we kept the decor simple and natural so that the focus stayed on the food, drinks and, most importantly, the company.

Seaside

Inspiration for a seaside reception...

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

Lately

Aquamarine

What a gorgeous color to use for an elegant marine inspired event...

A Pretty Pair

calligraphy | flowers

Sparkling Ginger Cocktail

Sparkling Ginger

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup sliced fresh ginger (2 ounces)

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1 tablespoon finely chopped crystallized ginger

2 lemon wedges

2 (750-ml) bottles chilled Prosecco

Simmer water, fresh ginger, and 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan, uncovered, for 10 minutes. 

Remove from heat and let steep 15 minutes. 

Strain syrup through a sieve into a bowl, discarding solids and chill until cold.

Finely grind crystallized ginger with remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a blender or food processor, then spread on a small plate.

Run lemon wedges around rims of glasses, then dip rims into ginger sugar. 

Put 1 tablespoon syrup into each glass and top off with Prosecco.

Cheers!

via

French 75

French 75

3 ounces gin

3 ounces fresh lemon juice

4 teaspoons superfine granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups ice cubes

1 cup chilled champagne

In a cocktail shaker, combine gin, lemon juice, sugar and ice cubes and shake to chill.  Strain cocktails into 2 wineglasses and top off with champagne.  Garnish with a lemon twist & enjoy!

*Alternately, you can substitute simple syrup for the sugar and/or serve drinks over ice in highball glasses

recipe via 

Thanksgiving Tablescapes

I know... It's not even Halloween yet and I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving.  Since I'm usually not into color all that much, I really love these fall palettes for Thanksgiving.  They're completely muted, while still bringing some beautiful colors to the mix.  

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Grey & White | Nantucket Style

Interiors by Linda McDougald Design

via Elle Decor