Caramel Pear Cake

Retail stores start pushing holiday crap soooo early now.  I was at the grocery store last week and they were unpacking Christmas stuff.  Are you kidding me?  But Blogland does it, too.  Fall food and decor has been showing its face on Pinterest for at least a month now.  It's obnoxious.  Why do we have to hurry up with everything?  Can't we just enjoy the rest of September before we start hauling our Halloween stuff out of the attic?

And now that I've ranted about that, let me remind you that fall food is hands down my favorite thing of all time.  I LOVE all things food this time of year.  All of it.  Apples, roasts, crock pots, yams, ciders, gravy, chicken and dumplings, all of it.  

Love.  It.  

So I made a Caramel Pear Cake.
I hosted Girl's Night at my house on Friday, and I searched my It's Fall Ya'll Pinterest board for a yummy dessert to make.
Mmmm, caramel.

The original recipe is Caramel Apple Cake.  But I didn't have apples, I had pears.  So I switched it up.  It's smothered in homemade caramel sauce, I didn't think anyone would complain about the fruit swap.

In addition to using pears instead of apples, I cored and thinly sliced them with a mandolin, rather than grating them.  I wasn't sure how well the pear would hold up to a grater, so I figured the slices would be better.  I added a teaspoon of Allspice, too.  Other than that, I followed the recipe.

Here it is comin' together at my house:

First up, layer your sliced pears in a greased and floured springform pan.

Mix up your batter and pour it over the pears.

Stick it in the oven and make your super easy caramel sauce.

Pour the caramel over the baked cake, sprinkle on chopped pecans, and bake for another 15 minutes.

Let cool long enough for the caramel to set up, then remove the sides of the pan.

I don't know if the caramel was supposed to drip down the sides quite so much, but I'm not mad about it.

That's a happy place right there.
It didn't the first night we ate it, but the leftovers the next day reminded me a lot of a bread pudding from one of our neighborhood restaurants.
That's a good thing.
It doesn't suck even a little bit.  I was gonna take pictures of an individual slice, but the kids tore it up.
Nothing left to photograph.
So good.

If you're lookin' for a fall libation, I also made this mulled wine to drink.
Um, delicious.
Really, really delicious.
It's official, I'm embracing fall.  But no pumpkin decor until October.



Please see my sidebar for the parties I link up to.

The Second Week Of September In The Front Yard

We were back in the 90's over the weekend.  I can't keep up.  It cools down, then it heats back up again. Rain is in the forecast for the coming week, and it will not hurt my feelings even a little bit to not have to water.

All that being said, it definitely looks like fall in the garden.  Not just the reds and oranges, but the light.  The sun during the day has a fall glow to it.

This dahlia just started booming.

It's a new one this year, another $2 Winco bulb.

The color is nothing like the photo on the box, but that's okay.  I wasn't really expecting a blue flower anyway.

It's another dinner plate called, 'Blue Bell.'

I love how dark the stems are.

Down a little lower in the same area, the white Spiderwort that my mom gave me a piece of has started to bloom.

I bought the annual Vinca when I redid the path, and it has turned out to be a great plant.

I hope I find it earlier in the season next year.

I love all the Coleus this time of year.

It's time to start letting them bloom I think.

Normally I pinch off the flowers, but they're fighting me tooth and nail at this point

.

The Zinnias are still goin'.

And this is the only time of year that I don't curse the orange and red ones that came in the mixed packs.

I don't know what took it so dang long, but the hanging pot of Begonias is finally taking off.

I took some more photos of the front of the house, where I took the Rhodies out early this summer.

I just can't get over how much better it is.

Why did I wait 13 years to do that?!

I was originally gonna yank all the Lamb's Ear out, but I'm really glad I left it.

I like it again.

And I have to show you my freebies.

I have no idea what in the world I'm going to do with these, but I just had to haul them home.

Two crates.

Any suggestions?

I thought about planting them, but I'd have to line them with something, since they're so open on the sides.

Anywho, my other freebie I did plant.  :)

My sister's neighbor had it out on the curb and I snatched it up with the quickness.

Who gets rid of pots like this!?!?

I put it on the front porch and stuck some fall plants in it.

Pictures to come.

I'll leave you with a lone Ivy Geranium flower.

I love them and the worms leave them alone, for the most part.

Have a great week!

Shameless plug alert:  

Just a little reminder that you can purchase my floral photographs in my Etsy shop.

If you see one in a post that isn't in the shop, shoot me an email and I'd be more than happy to list it for ya.
The Dad will thank you for helping to support my plant addiction.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RindyMae

Please see my sidebar for the parties I link up to.