"To make the roasted pear purée: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Peel, halve and core 5 ripe pears (Carlson uses Bartlett and Anjou, but any variety will work as long as they’re ripe). Arrange in a roasting pan with 4 tablespoons of demerara sugar, 4 ounces of brandy or Cognac, 6 cinnamon sticks, 8 star anise and 12 cloves. Cut 1 vanilla bean lengthwise; scrape out the seeds and add them to the roasting pan along with the pod. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove the spices and vanilla bean pod, then purée the pears and liquid in a blender or food processor."

The garnish at the link is gorgeous.

These proportions can be a little sweet, depending on the strength of the syrup--you can just use less of it too.

On good KD [ed. note Kold Draft ice cubes] it can take a bit to get your water content with all that fruit. I used muddling eighths of both lime and tangerine.

Most recipes call for a very wet Martini with between a dash and a full ounce of crème de menthe, usually green. For the unrelated Cognac drink of the same name dated to around the same time, see Caruso Cocktail (via Eric Fenton).