pear mascarpone cake

February 3, 2016

Pear Mascarpone CakeEver take your spring form pan bottom to someone’s house, cake on top of course, and forget to take it home with you? Then for nearly a year you search your cupboards high and low wondering what on earth you did with it. “I’ve got the sides, where the heck is the bottom?”

Finally I gave up and asked for a new pan for Christmas. Glad I did because this cake baked brilliantly in it and can I just say Hello!!!! Gorgeous!

(Bing clearly knows a good thing when he sees it.)

Pear Mascarpone Cake Pear Mascarpone CakeIf you ever need someone to dust powdered sugar on your confections I’ve got one heck of a referral for you. She doubles as a master sifter and finicky taste tester as well. (She is going to smile so big when she sees this image. My proud little assistant.)

Pear Mascarpone Cake Pear Mascarpone CakeLet’s talk about this cake. First off it is not uber sweet. If you are hoping for a sugar rush this more than likely wouldn’t be for you.

If you are hoping for something light and different and satisfying this would be your cake. The intertwining of the pear and mascarpone is simply a match made in heaven. This is the perfect sidekick to an afternoon cup of tea or a companion for your morning joe.

Pear Mascarpone Cake Pear Mascarpone CakeGosh she’s a pretty cake! You can always tell when I really enjoy shooting something because you get a double dose of images. Cocktails and cakes are my favorite. Yep, that sounds like me in a nutshell.

Enjoy!

brandyjsig

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
pear mascarpone cake
 
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • ¾cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½cup mascarpone
  • ¼tsp almond or vanilla extract
  • 1½cups all purpose flour
  • 5tbsp cornstarch
  • 1tbsp plus 1tsp baking powder
  • 3tbsp vegetable oil
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 2 ripe yet firm pears, both peeled and cored. One cubed, one slice into ¼" slices
  • Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven 340ºF. Grease and flour a 9" cake pan. (I used a spring form one.)
  2. Cream sugar and eggs in a stand mixer on medium high speed until creamy. Add mascarpone and blend until smooth. Add extract and combine.
  3. In a medium bowl sift together flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Add to the wet mixture and gently fold with a wooden spoon until just combined (it's fine if you can still see a little flour).
  4. Add vegetable oil, salt and diced pears. Fold until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and top with sliced pears.
  5. Bake on the middle rack at 340ºF for 35 to 40 minutes or until top begins to turn golden and toothpick comes out clean. Be sure not to over bake.
  6. Cool cake completely in pan. Dust powdered sugar over the top if desired. Enjoy!

 recipe slightly adapted from An Italian In My Kitchen

Pear Mascarpone Cake
Posted in breakfast, brunch, recipes, something sweet | Tagged | 2 Comments

beauty tries

February 2, 2016

When it comes to my makeup I have to say that this girl is in one serious rut. Products that I am familiar with and love are being rejected by my skin all of the sudden. I get it, time is marching across my face and there is not a damn thing I can do about that…well, there are a few things but you get what I am saying.

In an effort to feel better about my makeup I am diving into some new products. Last weekend I picked up Sonia Kashuk Nail Colour. Sonia Kashuk Beautifying Blush and Loreal Colour Riche Lipstick.

Drugstore Beauty TriesThe good: the nail color and the blush I will use again and again. Anyone want a tube of lipstick though?

Drugstore Beauty TriesWhy I didn’t love the lipstick…first off, it was stinky. Not good perfume kind of stinky. It also had this weird metallic sheen to it that made my tendency to be dry winter lips look severely dry and damaged. One other knock on it is that it didn’t feel rich and creamy. It felt cheap. In a nutshell I wouldn’t recommend.

Drugstore Beauty TriesNow onto better things, the nail color I liked. It did take 3 coats but after it was dry it was far more durable than many other brands I have worn. The color is a soft super super subtle pink….perfect for that “I want to have polish on but I don’t want to be able to see it from a mile away” look.

My favorite though is the blush. The color is rich, goes on evenly with an angled brush and lasts. I adore blush, but am never sure if I am doing it right. Not putting on enough, putting on too much, applying the right shade….it’s all sort of intimidating to me. I felt good in this melon color though. It is a nice jolt of color to my winter face. (Wearing both the blush and polish in yesterday’s post.)

The next product on my radar is foundation. If you have any good medium to full coverage products to suggest please share! Drugstore or high end – I don’t care as long as it is good stuff. I have a foundation brush on it’s way I will be dying to try (and sharing with you guys soon).

Cheers to shaking up the beauty product routine!

xo,

brandyjsig

Posted in beauty, beauty product review, makeup | Tagged | 2 Comments

got my new boots on

February 1, 2016

For months I basically drooled all over my phone every time I spied someone on instagram sporting the Dolce Vita Okana boots. Everything about them was right up my alley – the color, the relaxed yet structured shaft, the over the knee…..ugh, I had to have them.

Thanks to my mom they became mine and guess what? They sat in the flipping box for over a month. I am such a weirdo.

Shamefully, I was waiting till I had reached my fitness goal to wear them. It then dawned on me that a. that is dumb because they are fabulous and b. I may not have a lot of perfect weather days left to wear them if I actually waited that long. It’s not like they don’t fit. It’s not even like I have to squeeze into them. Again, the word dumb comes up here.

So this weekend I finally broke them in…and I haven’t taken them off since. I am in boot love.

over the knee boot outfitI especially love how they go oh so perfectly with the laces on Bingham’s flannel kicks.

dolce_vita_okana_2Can we talk about Bing in that jean jacket for a sec?! GAH!

dolce_vita_okana_3I have heard a lot of you say you are not too sure about over the knee boots. I think if you’ve got long legs you have no excuse but to sport them…it’s too easy not to. If don’t have the long gams this by no means is a one way ticket out of taller shaft boots. Try monochromatic looks to help lengthen the body or wear with mini skirts and dresses. I swear there is an over the knee out there for every girl.

dolce_vita_okana_4There is something about a hat, scarf and jacket that makes me feel all tidied up. Gorgeous boots….those help too.

WEARING brandy j Dolce Vita okana boots in honey/hat similar/scarf similar/jacket similar/H&M jeggings/striped sweater similar bingham hat similar/jacket similar/Next Direct jeans/boots similar

xo,

brandyjsig

Posted in family style, style | Tagged | 2 Comments

grapefruit salty dog

January 29, 2016

Grapefruit Salty DogHello Friday!

Anyone else out there getting these weird Spring fever vibes with all this unseasonable sunshine and lack of snow?! I feel like St Patty’s is coming up and we haven’t even celebrated Valentine’s Day yet. Mother Nature you have gone cray and I am sort of loving it. (Please don’t snow in April…please don’t snow in April…)

grapefruit_salty_dog2 Grapefruit Salty DogSomething that is never cray is a cocktail post on a Friday. This time around it’s an old school drink with one of my favorite winter ingredients…the almighty grapefruit.

It’s a simple little drink. Mix some grapefruit juice and vodka, throw it in a salt rimmed glass filled with ice and sip. If you want it to be sweet you will not be happy…it’s fresh and salty, absolutely not sweet. Best way I can describe it is this: if a dirty martini and a margarita got married their love child would be a salty dog.

Sounds sort of gross when you say it like that, but I swear if you like to sip on something with a little bite you will thoroughly enjoy this.

Grapefruit Salty Dog Grapefruit Salty DogThank goodness for weekends and cocktail hour. Have a good one!

Cheers!

brandyjsig

 

grapefruit salty dog
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • coarse sea salt
  • ⅔cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
  • ¼ vodka
  • crushed ice
  • grapefruit slices to garnish (optional)
Instructions
  1. Dip glasses in water or take a grapefruit slice and rub around the edges. Dip in sea salt. Fill with crushed ice.
  2. Pour juice and vodka into a shaker filled with ½cup ice. Shake and pour into glasses. Garnish with grapefruit wedges if desired. Cheers!

Grapefruit Salty Dog
Posted in cheers!, recipes | Tagged | 4 Comments

spicy (but not too spicy) dr pepper ribs

January 28, 2016

spicy dr pepper ribsThe husband doesn’t chime in too much on what he thinks I should or should not post…unless there is a sporting event, Father’s Day or any other man centered occasion coming up. That is when I get the “I really think you should post some meat soon Brand.”

I aim to please so a stack of ribs it is. Hope you loved them Sticky because I pulled slimy, silver-esque membrane off those just so they would taste even more delicious. That’s real love right there. (Has got to be one the most vile food jobs I have ever done.)

spicy dr pepper ribsA little about these ribs… They are slightly adapted from a Pioneer Woman recipe. Typically I would go straight up PW but we once made her spicy pulled pork for guests and they were sweating bullets. Since this version had a similar chipotle ratio I decided to cut it in half and pump up the soda a tad.

My mom (and Sticky) love the Bourbon Barbecue Ribs I posted a couple of years ago. My mom in fact makes them for guests constantly. They are easy, but not nearly is simplified as this version. Mostly because of the ingredient ratio. When I asked Sticky which is better he did not have a clear favorite. He does like the bourbon taste in the other recipe but he loves the sweetness of these as well.

So basically you can’t go wrong either way. They are both super delicious (and messy) ribs.

spicy dr pepper ribsAs far as party food I think these would be fantastic at a Super Bowl gathering. Make them the day off and keep them warm in a low crockpot. Just be sure to have plenty of napkins because ribs. (And plenty of veggie options for annoying people like me who show up at events where wings and ribs are typically consumed.)

Enjoy!

brandyjsig

 

spicy (but not too spicy) dr pepper ribs
 
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1cup of brown sugar
  • 1½ cans Dr Pepper
  • ½ can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I used a 7.5oz can)
  • ⅓cup spicy brown mustard
  • 1tbsp white vinegar
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 packages of pork baby back ribs
Instructions
  1. Place brown sugar, dr pepper, chipotle peppers, brown mustard, white vinegar and garlic in a sauce pan on medium high heat. Bring to a boil and allow to boil until it is very thick - coating your spoon thick. This took me about 45 minutes.
  2. Take half of the marinade and brush all over meat. Wrap meat in foil in stick in fridge for at least 8 hours to marinate.
  3. Preheat oven 275ºF and pop ribs in for 2 hours (with foil still on). Remove ribs, turn the oven up to 300º and brush more sauce on the ribs before placing them back in, foil off. Take them out after 20 minutes, brush again, and then pop back in for another 20. If they have the nice, somewhat charred rib look they are done. If not keep brushing and popping back in oven. Serve with extra sauce is desired.

 recipe from pioneer woman

spicy dr pepper ribs
Posted in meaty, party food, recipes | Tagged | 1 Comment