not having your cake

Sometimes I stumble upon a recipe and think to myself that it is something I NEED to make. Right. Now.  

One of these "need to try" recipes was Martha Stewart's "Three Tier Candied Pecan Cake with Brown Butter Pears".  It's one of those recipes where you stop reading and rummage through your cupboards hoping that you have the ingredients on hand so you can make the darn thing....right this moment.

Did I have pecans?  No.  Did I have pears?  Still no.  

So the ingredients went on my shopping list, and the next time I was at the store, I purchased those items.

Did you ever have a list and by the time you go grocery shopping, can't remember what the ingredients were supposed to be used for?  Yup. That's what happened here. By the time I remembered,  we ate the pears already, but I still had pecans. And still no cake.

Oh well, part of the recipe was candied pecans.  It sounded good, simple and easy to do right now, so that's what I ended up making.  At least I can say I started making the  "three tier candied pecan cake with brown butter pears".  I just made it...minus the cake part.  

Maybe some day.

Candied Pecans

(Extracted from Martha Stewart's cake recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted 
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp.  pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Toss toasted pecans with butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg on a rimmed baking sheet
• Roast, stirring halfway through until toasted, about 10 minutes.
• Let cool.

Enjoy.