Blueberry, White Chocolate & Toasted Walnut Scones

Yes, that's right - three posts in a week! I have to crank these out fast, because the recipes are building up. That doesn't sound good, but I'm just saying I have a lot of saved recipes on here and they're getting old. So there's no time to waste!

Hopefully my pictures will be getting better soon. Oh Nuts Eric bought me a tripod for my birthday, so no more tilted pictures! Thank you, sweetie! Then, I took the money on my giftcard and purchased a new lens for my camera. I can't wait for my lens... it should be here any day now.



I also can't wait for my Build a Better Burger cookbook to get here. A special Build a Better Burger celebrity friend is sending me a copy. I've been researching and making burgers lately. Are some of you trying to find that perfect burger recipe for the summer? Maybe this video will help you. It helped me.
It helped me a lot.

Just look at all of those cheeseburgers! With ONIONS!



But back to Oh Nuts Eric and Blueberry, White Chocolate & Toasted Walnut Scones. I baked these up and I wasn't really sure how they would turn out, but they were delicious! I think they're the best scones I've ever baked. Eric took a bite out of one right after I baked them and proclaimed them as, "F%$#@ing delicious" and that startled me for a second and then I said thank you, and I would be using that review on my blog.

For a good scone, you want them more like a biscuit than cake, and the secret is to not overwork the dough, and not use too much liquid. The buttery biscuit dough is mixed with yogurt, egg, vanilla, white chocolate chips, toasted walnuts, and the most important ingredient - fresh blueberries.

If you don't feel like baking scones, visit a Starbucks on Tuesday, July 21st, between opening and 10:30 AM, and receive a free pastry with the purchase of your beverage. They have blueberry scones and they're delicious. Very good scones.
I will not be going because I will be sleeping.

Blueberry, White Chocolate & Toasted Walnut Scones (Recipe by Me)

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (spooned into cup & leveled with knife)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
3 large eggs, divided use
1/4 cup yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; whisk in 6 tablespoons sugar until combined. Knead in butter, using fingertips, until well incorporated and mixture starts to clump together, forming pea-sized lumps. Gently stir in blueberries, walnuts and white chocolate chips until combined.
In a small bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, yogurt and vanilla until combined; sprinkle into flour mixture and toss together using a fork.

Turn shaggy dough out onto a floured surface, and gently pat and knead until it comes together, handling as little as possible. Form two (6-inch) rounds. Insides of the rounds should be thicker. Slice each round into 6 equal triangles and place on cookie sheets. Whisk the addtional egg in a small bowl and brush evenly on scones; sprinkle with additional sugar if desired.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks until ready to serve.

Makes 12 scones

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Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches

My younger sister Hannah and I are going to start a new business venture. That's right, folks. We're taking this gig on the road and it's going to be big - real big, see.

We're going to make a killing on this new product that we're making and selling. I'll be able to go to culinary school in New York with the money I make. Hannah will be able to pay off her Ford Focus sooner than expected.

We've invented a new product that you can decorate your home with. Keep it on display for a conversation piece. You can give it as a gift to your loved ones. These are true keepsakes that you'll treasure forever.

We don't have a name yet for these pieces of art, but let me show you what they are:

Paper napkins shaped into ice cream cones using tape.


These are one-of-kind, genuine napkins. We're only selling them for a limited time, so get them while you can, with three easy payments of $29.99. That's right, folks. These are selling like hotcakes, see.



To promote our new product, today I've made some ice cream sandwiches for you, and I will include one in the shipment of your purchase. I baked up some big, soft chocolate cookies, then filled them with the strawberry ice cream I made.

Mmmm delicious and perfect for the summertime. Ice cream, strawberry, chocolate, paper napkin ice cream cones... life is good. Sorry for wasting your time today with this nonsense.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ice Cream Sandwiches (Recipe by Me)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips, or 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 quart strawberry ice cream, softened

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a small sheet pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until creamy, about 1 minute; beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture and milk until just combined; stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Spread batter evenly onto sheet pan. Bake for for 15-20 minutes or until brown around edges; cool 20 minutes before cutting into rounds using a round cookie cutter. Place rounds in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool. Spread as much ice cream as desired on rounds, then cover to make sandwiches. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to serve.

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Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

I'm kinda weird about cheesecake. It's the one dessert I don't entirely love, and I don't know why. It has always been like that, my entire life. It's very confusing to me - how can you NOT love cheesecake? A buttery graham cracker crust topped with sweetened whipped cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla. It doesn't make sense.

I just prefer cakes, pies, cookies, brownies. Maybe it's that I'm not that crazy about cream cheese. Could that be it? But, oh, how I love cheesecake crust. Mmm. And any of the toppings. So that is how it has been my whole life. I eat the crust and topping off of the cheesecake and leave the filling.



I know, it's crazy. It's time for me to grow up and stop being such a cheesecake baby.

But who wants to turn their oven on for an hour and bake cheesecake when it's 100 degrees outside?



No one. That's why you need to make this easy ice cream with cheesecake chunks in it. Chunks doesn't sound appetizing, but I swear the cheesecake chunks are delicious, and I don't even "like" cheesecake. They're made with cream cheese, graham cracker crumbs and confectioners' sugar, then added to the ice cream base. The ice cream base is made with heavy cream, milk, sugar and vanilla bean, with strawberries and strawberry preserves swirled in.

So no, this ice cream doesn't contain eggs, but it is SO good. I've never made ice cream without eggs, and I was worried, but I loved how creamy and smooth the texture of this was. And the flavor was really clean and simple. Does that make sense?

Anyway, give this a try. Strawberries are cheap! Do it! Now!

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream (Recipe by Me)

Ingredients:
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup milk (2%)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced strawberries
1/3 cup strawberry preserves

Directions:

Bring cream, granulated sugar and corn starch, to a boil, in a large saucepan, over medium heat, whisking frequently; remove pan from heat and whisk in milk, vanilla bean seeds and vanilla bean pod. Infuse for ten minutes, before removing vanilla bean pod and placing cream in a large mixing bowl. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until cold, about 3-4 hours, but preferably overnight.

In a medium mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined, about 1 minute; beat in graham cracker crumbs until combined. Set aside.

Bring strawberries and preserves to a boil, in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently; remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until cold.

Pour ice cream base into ice cream maker, and process according to manufacturer's direction. In the last 5 minutes of processing, add graham cracker-cream cheese chunks (breaking up the mixture using your fingers) and strawberry mixture to ice cream, and allow to finish churning.
Scrape ice cream into a freezer-proof container, and freeze for 2 hours, or until ready to serve.

Makes 8-10 servings

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Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake with Raspberry Preserves & Chocolate Ganache

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I had a nice one. I had the day off from work and got to spend time with family and friends. I got some sweet baking supplies too, as gifts, and I can't wait to use them. Some friends from work also bought me a gift card, which I'm very happy about. I'm going to use it towards something for this blog, so stay tuned. I need to bake them something special as a thank you gift. Cookies, perhaps??



I can't say that anything extremely exciting happened on my birthday. I don't have any craaaazy stories for you. No one stole a piece of my cake this year.

I guess my most exciting moment of the day was getting to try my Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake with Raspberry Preserves & Chocolate Ganache. My favorite kind of cake is chocolate. Dark chocolate with dark chocolate ganache. I love raspberry preserves, Nutella and hazelnuts, so I thought I would use all of these flavors together to make my ultimate birthday cake. It was very delicious; the cake was dark chocolate-y and moist. and I would use this recipe for other chocolate cakes.



I baked this cake in three cake pans, then split each round into two layers. I really hate splitting cakes and I need help with it. I used the floss and toothpick method, and I guess it worked okay, but it stressed me out. I stood there for about ten minutes, just staring at the cakes, before I had the guts to go for it.

That's all for today. I hope to get caught up on reading blogs soon. This is our busiest time of the year at the restaurant I wait tables at, so I'm not getting home until 10:30-11:00 at night. Yup, July is the month when I'm the most tired, most sweaty, most stressed out, and when I get the most candied yams in my hair and gravy on my shirt.

Anyway, try this cake! Make your own version - you could use different preserves, spreads, and nuts.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake with Raspberry Preserves & Chocolate Ganache (Recipe by Me)

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup dark, unsweetened, cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 cups milk

Nutella (about 1 1/4 cups), warmed slightly
Seedless raspberry preserves (about 1 cup), warmed slightly

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (8 or 9-inch) cake pans.

In a medium mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, beat egg whites (reserving the yolks) until stiff peaks form; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and melted chocolate until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk, until combined, about 2-3 minutes; fold in egg whites, in three additions, until combined.

Divide batter into cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake pulls away from sides of pan, and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool for 12 minutes on wire racks before running a knife around outside edges of pans, and inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.

Split each cake in half (freeze for easier slicing). Spread a layer of Nutella and raspberry preserves on each cake half.

To make the ganache, heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, until it comes to a simmer; turn heat off and whisk in chocolate until melted and smooth. Cool until it's a good consistency, then pour and spread over cake. Pack hazelnuts on top and sides of cake.

Makes 12 servings

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