Brandy, Pear & Buckwheat Pound Cake + a Spiced Pear Brandy Sidecar

Hello, friend.

Thanksgiving is just a few days away. In my last post I talked all about what to make for the perfect holiday feast, everything from the sides, to the entrée, and even the dessert. Though I forgot one VERY important part of any great gathering: the cocktail! But fear not, I have swooped in to save the day with another cocktail + dessert pairing using another mixer from Powell & Mahoney. With autumn slowly coming to an end I wanted to highlight the seasonality of one of its great fruits, the Bosc pear. I also wanting to snag the chance at baking with/drink some brandy (because it’s my favorite of any hard liquor. So good!). The holidays are a hectic, crazy, stressful, but ultimately fun time of year me. Plus, with final exams in the next couple of weeks, I think I'm in need of a cake and cocktail break.  Who here is up for that??

Gooseberry, Pear and Brandy Crumble

Hello, friend. 

Until a couple weekends ago, I didn’t know that gooseberries even existed. I know, super-terrible-bad food blogger of me, but I digress. I was at my local farmer’s market when I stumbled across a booth with these round, green berries in turquoise blue containers. At first glance, they appeared to be perfectly spherical grapes or realllly tiny melons. Whatever they looked like, I was intrigued. I was curious as to what these little green gems could be used for. Asking Momma Crawford, she told of one of her aunts who used to make a gooseberry pie with mounds of sugar to help combat the tartness of the berries. A pie sounded delicious, but I knew exactly what I was going to do with these gooseberries and that was to make a crumble.