Pear & Almond Chocolate Spice Cake

Fall is in full swing. The air is brisk and the season of long knit scarves is here. Some days I feel as if I need to wear two just to keep my insides warm and toasty. I don't mind the chill of fall; as a matter of fact, I love the cool frost of autumn just until the leaves finish changing and fall, crumpled, at the bottom of the tree. Fall begins to wear on me as soon as the weatherman starts bringing up a certain four letter s-word.

You know, snow.

When the ground is littered with autumn leaves, I'm always reminded of my favorite fall flavors. Certainly pumpkin, ginger, and cinnamon top the list, but another, perhaps more subtle flavor, captures my heart. I am, of course, talking about pears. Early fall marks the beginning of pear season. Although pears are available year round, October is the month where pears truly start to radiate with beauty.

Recently, I have fallen in love with Bosc pears. They remind me of still life paintings—forbidden to touch, but beautiful to admire. I was afraid for many years to hold them (as silly as this sounds), because they didn't look real to me. The color, a natural cinnamon kissed brown, and the shading was just so. They stuck out in the supermarket like a sore thumb, fantasy juxtaposed against a consumer reality, and I danced around them, choosing the Bartlett or Green Anjou instead.

Last fall, while perusing a farmer's market, I came across a newly ripened batch. The necks and stems were long and graceful, with no unsightly marks in sight. I was drawn to these pears and they followed me around the market, as if they knew it was time we both sat down at a table together. I bought them, wrapped them carefully against the cold, and gave them a home on my kitchen counter. It was love of the edible sort.

Pear and chocolate have consistently been one of my favorite combinations. When I saw this cake from Honey & Jam, I knew I had to make it. When inspiration strikes, it strikes hard. Less than a few hours later, I could be found at the store, admiring the selection of pears, no longer afraid to reach for the alluring Bosc.

This Pear & Almond Chocolate Spice Cake holds the essence of fall in each slice. Chocolate cake batter is spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg, before diced pears and chopped almonds are folded into the batter. The cake bakes up with a fragrant smell that will linger long after the cake leaves the oven. As the cake cools, a pear cider glaze is poured over the top, which gives the cake a brilliant sheen and a flavor that soaks deep into the cake. If you love pears as I do, this cake will leave you feeling warm and content after a walk in the cool outdoors.

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Red Wine Chocolate Cake

I've always had a vision of myself as a great connoisseur of wines—to be able to tell the subtleties between grapes grown from varied regions or, more rarely, the minute differences in the same wine year to year. I'm not a great connoisseur of wines. In fact, the word I and connoisseur don't belong in the same sentence. While I love a full-bodied glass of wine, I'm hopeless when it comes to actually describing what I'm drinking. Shamefully, I must admit the way I can tell wines apart (and if I enjoy them) is whether or not they taste like "church."

Now that is certainly nothing to brag about.

Nevertheless, while visiting the Tuscan countryside in Italy a few years ago, I decided a wine tour was absolutely necessary. If I couldn't be an actual wine connoisseur, I could at least fake it. There is no place better to pretend to have the fine skills of a sommelier than the true heart of wine country, right?

My friend and I ended up choosing a wine tasting combined with a bike tour of the countryside. At the time it seemed like the perfect idea. With the sun on our faces, we could bike between vineyards with the smell of growing grapes lingering in the air. We would stop only for a glass of the finest wines, while we explored the intricacies of a working winery. Our plan was flawless.

However, reality was much different from our daydreams, but no less of a story to tell.

The day started out bright and fresh. We rode our bikes, weaving between vineyards and gorgeous Tuscan villas. Our daydreams truly came to life as we stopped at a castle to taste wines and sample infused olive oils on freshly baked bread. Another ride through the countryside brought us to a small, quiet trattoria where we stopped for lunch. With our bellies absolutely stuffed full of salad, wine, pasta, wine, decadent desserts, and more wine, we settled back in our seats, never more pleased, with our eyes beginning to close from sheer bliss.

Then, to snap us out of our wine induced euphoria, we were told the hardest part of the ride was yet to come. The Tuscan countryside was full of gentle rolling hills, yes, but we had not anticipated climbing a hill so long and steep it could put mountains to shame (well, not quite, but to our alcohol addled minds it might have well been Everest).

After a bit of whining and complaining, we returned to our bikes for the uphill battle. Perhaps a little tipsy and our bikes a tad more wobbly, we trudged forward. The hill has a 17% percent grade in a few points, we were told. But only a few! Nevermind the fact that small hills put me and my biking skills to shame, I was determined to climb the hill.

It's safe to say I walked my bike up the entire mile long hill, treading so slowly I was easily the last to arrive. I later argued I got to see more of the countryside this way (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

While the wine and bike tour was not quite what I imagined it to be, it was perfect for me—the ideal mixture of sun, sights, wine, and absolute ridiculousness. I didn't become a wine connoisseur, but I learned I can walk up a really big hill with a belly full of wine. Something tells me that might just come in handy again.

This Red Wine Chocolate Cake embodies the beauty of a glass of wine in a rich chocolate cake. Using red wine instead of buttermilk brings a deep red hue to the cake as well as a rich flavor. While you may not be able to pinpoint the wine exactly, it adds an extra touch that gives the chocolate cake a rounded flavor. The cake itself is not terribly sweet (I really wanted the darkness of the chocolate cake to complement the wine), but the honey mascarpone whipped cream adds a touch of soft sweetness to the overall picture. The flavors in the cake develop more overnight, making the cake even better on day two.

This is an adult cake. The oven does not bake out all of the alcohol from the wine, so keep this cake away from the kids (finally a treat just for you!). While the cake does contain alcohol, it is not enough to make you tipsy (or anywhere near there). A glass of wine with a slice of this cake will do that for you.

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3 Milk Coconut Cake

On the coast of Oregon, there is an undiscovered restaurant resting in the small town of Oceanside. Unless you happen to stop in the town of 300 people to catch the sunset on the beach, you would never know this little corner of heaven existed. With a view of the ocean that could make your heart sing and food to rival any prized restaurant, it's a true gem.

A genuine hidden treasure.

A wooden beach house on main street has a small sign reading Roseanna's Cafe. With only a handful of businesses on main, Roseanna's is easy to spot—you can't miss it. The lightly faded curtains hanging in the windows invite you inside.

The interior is small but friendly, holding no more than a dozen tables. The decor is dressed up as if you had just gone to visit your grandmother. It's familiar and quaint. There is an immediate sense of belonging—one or two meals at this place and you may want to start calling Roseanna's home. I know I did.

At the end of July, a few friends and I rented a beach house on the coast of Oregon for a week. It was a beautiful visit, filled with the rise and fall of the tides and sand behind my ears. Near the end of our stay, we were craving a good, fresh seafood dinner. Willing to travel many miles for a feast, we wound up just a few minutes down the road. Roseanna's was the place to go, we were told.

And so we went.

A quick glance at the menu is enough to make your mouth water. Simply reading through the descriptions will send your taste buds into a tailspin. Though I am not normally a seafood fan, I found myself getting excited about a real seafood dinner. With too many delicious options on the menu, my friends and I decided to share a little food here and there so everyone would get a taste. We started with seafood stuffed mushrooms and a loaf of bread I could swear was lighter than air. Though we tried to take our time and savor it, it was promptly inhaled with everyone fighting over the last few crumbs. It was a deliciously dirty sight when one of my friends nearly licked the plate clean for fear of wasting such a divine cream sauce.

For my entree, I ordered the scallops drenched in a sun-dried tomato butter with a side of potatoes and string beans. After my first bite, I could have sworn I had died and gone to heaven. The flavors, the scallops, the butter... I immediately converted to a seafood lover. My first thought was of unspeakable emotion. The second was whether or not it would be strange to order an identical second entree. The third was to make everyone else have a bite because something this sinfully delicious couldn't be contained to one person or one stomach.

And then, of course, came dessert. Though we had a few desserts sent to the table, the 3 milk coconut cake was deemed the table favorite and disappeared the quickest (we even begged the waitress for the secret to this heavenly cake). With the sun setting over the ocean and good friends around the table, it couldn't have been a happier moment.

With that very moment in mind, I set out to recreate my own version of the 3 Milk Coconut Cake served at Roseanna's. The cake is essentially the base of tres leches cake, meaning a very light cake that can absorb a lot of liquid. A glaze of coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, and coconut rum (who says you can't have a little fun?) is then poured over the cake. After soaking overnight, the cake is topped with a coconut rum infused whipped cream and toasted coconut. Man, oh man, this cake is good. Just ask my mother—she's eaten four pieces just today.

For a kid friendly version, substitute heavy cream for the rum in the glaze and remove it completely from the topping (though, you don't have to share this one with the kids. It can be a special treat just for you. Just saying).

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