Walkers Scottie Shortbread and Honey Sea Salt Ice Cream

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Walkers recently sent me a box of these adorable shortbread cookies shaped like Scottie dogs! How cute are they? The Chocolate Scottie Dog Shortbread is Walkers newest shortbread cookie. These delicious and adorable cookies along with the pure butter Scottie Dog Shortbread are among the best selling cookies Walkers offers. Walkers donates part of the proceeds from every purchase of either flavor of the Scottie Dog Shortbread to the ASPCA. When you buy these you get not only get a  great shortbread cookie but also help raise money for the ASPCA. What could be better?!

The Chocolate Scottie Shortbread cookies are very tasty but I have to admit the pure butter one are my favorite but only because I  have a West Highland White Terrier. Her name is Maisy and she kindly allows me the privilege of being her owner. If you've ever owned a Westie, then you know what I'm talking about! Anyway the Pure Butter Scotties remind me of Maisy so I couldn't help falling for them!

Westie love!

What's the best way to enjoy these cookies?? Well it's officially summertime so I say time to break out those ice cream makers! This honey sea salt ice cream is sooo easy to make and tastes positively divine! It's the perfect accompaniment to either the Pure Butter Scottie or the Chocolate Scottie Shortbread.

Honey Sea Salt Ice Cream
Makes 1½ quarts
Source: adapted from Cuisinart 

1 cup whole milk, cold
½ cup honey
2 cups heavy cream, cold
2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
pinch of sea salt

Mix the milk and honey together in a medium bowl until the honey is fully mixed in.Stir in the cream, salt and the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into the frozen bowl of an ice cream maker and churn the mixture until thickened, about 30 minutes. Place churned ice cream in another freezer safe container and freeze for several hours, preferably over night before serving. For serving: drizzle the top of the scooped ice cream with a little honey and add a tiny pinch of sea salt...heaven!

These Walkers Scottie Shortbread Cookies are also perfect with a cup of hot tea!

GIVEAWAY!
Walkers is offering you a chance WIN a Scottie Dog Tin filled with Scottie dog shortbread cookies! One  reader win be given a tartan tin filled with 18 Scottie Dog shortbread cookies. Just leave a comment below and your entered to win!!

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This giveaway will end at midnight Friday June 28, 2013. One lucky reader will be notified by email so be sure to leave an email address with you comment. This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only.

PROMO CODE: Free shipping for Half Baked readers!!

Until June 28, you can receive FREE SHIPPING on any Walkers orders of $25 or more. Additionally, when you purchase the Scottie dog cookies or tin during this time frame, Walkers will also donate an extra dollar to the ASPCA. Just go to the Walkers site here and use the promo code HBBSCOTTIES
**UPDATE** Walkers has kindly extended free shipping on all orders of $25. or more to all Hal Baked Readers  until July, 5!! Don't miss out!

Chunky Monkey Cake

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I you like banana bread, then this is your cake. This cake is a dense, very banana-y cake. I cut  this cake into half to make layers and filled it with some caramel frosting that I had left from another cake. Then I topped it with a cream cheese frosting. The caramel frosting was a last minute idea. You can just ice it with the cream cheese frosting but I really love caramel and the banana. In fact the cake would be delicious with just the caramel frosting, but why stop at just one flavor of frosting??
This cake is kind of a slightly sweeter version of a banana bread with the added bonus of frosting...or in this case two kinds of frosting!

The flavors of the cake reminded me of one of my favorite flavors of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, hence the name Chunky Monkey cake.

Ultimate Peanut Butter Pie

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In case I've never mentioned it before, I am in fact, a resident of The Peanut Capital of the World. Jealous? I thought so... In the Fall we, here in the Peanut Capital of the World, have a week long festival to celebrate all things peanut. Through the years, I've had many versions of the peanut butter pie. Peanut Butter pie is a truly a classic Southern dessert.  Most of the recipes I've seen for the pies are made using frozen whipped topping. I'm just not a fan of the stuff. Anything that looks and tastes like cream but contains no dairy just kinda scares me. The original recipe for this pie was also made with whipped topping but I decided to just whip up some cream and see what happened. Well let me tell you, it made a heavenly combo of peanut and cream. This is one decant pie, a creamy peanut buttery filling studded with chocolate and peanut butter chips, all held together with an Oreo cookie crust. Is your mouth watering yet?!? I made this pie for our family Memorial Day get together but I would be a perfect Father's day celebration pie as well. That sounds like a good excuse to make it again!

Lemon Cheesecake with Ginger Shortbread Crust

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I was recently invited by Walkers Shortbread to become an ambassador for their company. I've been a lifelong fan of Walkers Shortbread, so I jumped at the chance to join their program. One of the things I love about Walkers products is that they are made with all natural ingredients. The original shortbread is still made with just four ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, and salt, that's it!
As an ambassador, Walkers Shortbread has supplied me with several boxes of their cookies (score!). Included in this box was a box of the stem ginger shortbread cookies. I had never had the stem ginger cookies, one of Walkers' gourmet line of shortbreads but they may have become my new favorite. They are the perfect marriage of a shortbread cookie and gingersnap! I decided to grind them up and use the ginger cookies to make the crust for my lemon cheese cake.

Lemon Cheesecake with Ginger Shortbread Crust

Source: Food.com, by studentchef, adapted

PRINTABLE RECIPE

For the Crust:

1 5.3 ounce package of Walkers Stem Ginger Cookies, finely ground

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

For the Filling:

1 lb cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cheesecake topping:

3/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream

 Blackberry Topping:

2 1/2 cups of fresh blackberries, divided

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

METHOD:

For the Crust:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter the sides of an 8 inch springform pan.

Place the Walkers ginger shortbread cookies into a food processor and process until they become crumbs with no large pieces. Stir in the melted butter and press the mixture evenly over the bottom of an 8 inch springform pan.

Place the springform pan on top of a flat baking pan or cookie pan. Bake the crust for about 5-8 minutes of until it starts to brown a bit around the edges.

For the Cheesecake Filling:

 In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the  sour cream. Add the in beaten eggs, in a slow stream and mix until well combined. Scrape down the bowl, and stir in lemon juice, zest, and vanilla.

Pour into baked ginger crust and place in oven. Immediately turn heat down to 300 degrees F and bake for one hour.

Turn oven off. Crack open the oven door and let cake sit in oven for another 30 minutes. Remove cake from the oven and set on rack while mixing up the topping.

For cheesecake topping:

Set oven temp to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine all three ingredients, mix with a spoon until smooth.

Spread the mixture over top of baked cheesecake. If your cheese cake has any cracks on top,use the topping to fill them in.

Bake until set, about 10-15 minutes. Allow cake to cool for several hours before removing side of springform pan. Chill until ready to serve.

For the blackberry topping:

Place 1 1/2 cups of the blackberries into a small sauce pan. Add the rest of the ingredients, cook over medium high heat until the berries release their juices, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining blackberries. Top the cooled cheesecake with the blackberry mixture. 

Cheesecake can be wrapped closely in plastic and refrigerated for about four days or frozen two weeks.

 This lemony cheesecake has a ginger-laced shortbread crust and is topped with a blackberry compote. It would be the perfect ending for your Mother's Day lunch or brunch.

Walkers has provided me with a special promo code for my readers to save 20% off your next purchase from, www.walkersus.com. Go to the site, place your order for any of their regular priced products and when you check out enter the code #HBBSPRING to receive the 20% discount on your order. This is offer is good until May 24th, 2013, so don't miss out!

Blueberry Upside Down Cake

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Several years ago while searching for a blueberry dessert, I found this recipe for blueberry upside down cake. It comes from Thibeault's Table, a wonderful blog from Canada with lots of great recipes. Ann, the blogs author, and her husband also make and sell gorgeous hardwood cutting boards. They are truly one of a kind works of art and I really want one!
Anyway, the first time I made this cake I fell in love with it. Since then it's become one of my favorite go-to recipes for a quick, but really delicious fruit dessert. I've made it so many times over the years that I was positive that I had already shared it here. After looking through my archive it appears that I some how overlooked posting about this wonderful little cake. Well let me just fix that right now!

This cake is so amazing served warm, right out of the oven, especially with a little vanilla ice cream. However, as great as that is, I love it equally as much the next day with a cup of hot coffee. For me adding the cinnamon to the cake, gives it more of a coffee cake flavor. If you leave the cinnamon out it's more a vanilla cake. Either way you can't go wrong, but with the cinnamon, this cake and cup of coffee are a match made in heaven!

Blueberry Upside Down Cake
Source: Thibeault's Table (slightly adapted)
PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
3/4 cup buttermilk

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees  Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Spread evenly on bottom of a 9 inch round cake pan with at least 2 inch sides. Spread blueberries evenly over the brown sugar mixture and drizzle the lemon juice over the berries.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beat in egg, almond extract, and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon (if using). Mix in one third of the dry ingredients. Add in half the milk. Mix in another third of the dry ingredients, when just mixed, add in the rest of the milk. Add the remaining dry ingredients, mix until just incorporated. Spread batter evenly over blueberry layer. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let the cake cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert on to large flat plate or cake plate.

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Rosemary and Olive Focaccia

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Hubs and I are enjoying some much needed R and R at the beach this week, so this will be a quick post. This focaccia is easy to make, most of the time involved in making it is rising times.  Even if you find working with yeast a little daunting, give this bread a try.  It's a very forgiving and pretty much fool-proof recipe. I found it to be about like making homemade pizza dough. It smells so good baking and tastes delicious, definitely worth the effort!

Rosemary and Olive Focaccia
PRINTABLE RECIPE

source: Bon Appetit-May 1995 (slightly adapted)

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups warm water (105°F; to 115°F)
2 teaspoons dry yeast
4 1/2 cups (about) bread flour, or all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons (plus enough to coat baking pan) olive oil
1/3 cup black olives (such as Kalamata),pitted, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon sea salt

METHOD:

Put the warm water in large bowl or in a electric mixer bowl, such as a Kitchen-Aid, stir in the dry yeast. Let this stand until yeast dissolves and begins to "bloom", about 10 minutes.

Mix 4 1/4 cups flour and the salt to yeast mixture and stir to blend well (dough will be sticky). Using the dough hook attachment, turning the mixer on low speed, knead for about 5 minutes, adding in flour a few tablespoons at a time, if needed. Alternately, knead the dough by hand on floured surface until smooth and elastic,about 10 minutes, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky. 

Lightly oil a large bowl. Forming the dough into ball, place the dough into the oiled bowl.Turn the dough once or twice to to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough. Form dough into ball again and return to same bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm area until doubled, approximately 40 minutes, it may take less time than that.

Coat 15x10-inch baking sheet with olive oil. Punch down dough, and place onto the prepared baking pan. Press out dough to 13x10-inch rectangle. Let dough rest 10 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over dough. Sprinkle olives and chopped rosemary evenly over. Let dough rise uncovered in warm area until it puffs slightly, about 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475°F. Press fingertips all over dough, making indentations.Sprinkle the top of the bread with the sea salt and bake. It's done when it is until brown and crusty, 18-20 minutes. Let bread cool at least 10 minutes before cutting.

This focaccia is fantastic right out of the oven with a drizzle of olive oil. It makes for killer sandwiches too!

Greeting from Florida's Forgotten Coast. Last night's sunset ( that little black dot in the center of the sunset is a dolphin!) ....we've got a few more to go till it's back to reality!

Strawberry Cake

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Strawberry cakes are a Southern cake staple. However, almost every recipe I've found are made with a cake mix and strawberry flavored jello. I have been looking for strawberry cake recipe that's made from scratch,for quite sometime. I was thrilled when I found this recipe by I Made That using pureed strawberries in the batter. No cake mix or jello required! 

A couple of weeks ago, I was drooling over the keyboard browsing King Arthur's website, and came across a product they sell called cake enhancer. It's supposed to make cakes, and other baked goods, lighter, fluffier, and last longer. It can be used in almost any type of baked good from cakes to bread. I was intrigued and ordered a box to try. I decided to use it in this cake and see what happened. My cake did have a really nice light fluffy (almost box mix like) texture. I can't wait to use the cake enhancer in some of my other recipes. 
Cake enhancer was not in the original recipe so don't feel that you need to have it to make this cake. 

Strawberry Cake
Source: I Made That, ( slightly adapted)
PRINTABLE RECIPE

2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 Tablespoons King Arthur cake enhancer (optional)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

1/2 cup butter (one stick), room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup pureed strawberries (put berries in the food processor or blender to puree)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9" (or three 8") cake pans with rounds of parchment and butter well or spray with a non stick baking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cake enhancer, if using. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and almond extract. Set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until it forms a paste like texture.  Scrape the bowl down well, and gradually add the eggs in a slow stream, beating  for about 1 minute at medium speed. Gradually add the buttermilk mixture. Mix for 1 minute at medium speed. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in the pureed strawberries and the lemon zest.

Divide the batter equally into the prepared cake pans and bake 20-25 minutes or until the cakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Allow the cakes to cool before removing from the pan.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
source: Recipe.com

8-ounces cream cheese

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

6 Tablespoons strawberry preserves

1  teaspoon vanilla extract 

4  cups confectioners' sugar

1  pinch salt

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter at medium-high speed  until smooth. Add strawberry preserves and vanilla, beat until combined. Add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat at medium/low speed until the sugar is combined and the icing is smooth. If necessary, add in a little milk to get a smooth consistency.