This little figgy...

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...got dipped in chocolate!

I'm so happy that the figs at the farm are finally ripe! I've picked quite a few and plan to make most of them into preserves and chutney, but I have been eating my fair share of them fresh. There are endless ways to use fresh figs. In a salad drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette is one of my all-time favorite ways to enjoy fresh figs but they are also the perfect dessert fruit. So this little figgy got dipped into a dark bittersweet chocolate. I sprinkled the freshly dipped figs with just a tiny dash of sea salt. These chocolate covered figs are quite fine on their own but paired with a bowl of rich vanilla ice cream, and you've got a match made in figgy heaven!

Chocolate Dipped Figs
Melt about 1/2 a cup of high quality bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips, in the microwave at 50 percent power for 1 1/2-2  minutes, stopping to check and stir chocolate mixture a couple of time. Once mixture is melted, dip the figs that you have dried with a paper towel into the chocolate. Once fruit is covered in chocolate, set them on a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Refrigerate figs until chocolate covering is firm, before serving.

Rustic Tomato and Cheese Tart

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This tart is a twist on the traditional tomato pie.  It's a wonderful combo of two classic southern favorites, biscuits and tomato pie. In place of the traditional pastry crust, buttermilk biscuits make up the crust of this free form tart. It's everything you love about both dishes in one amazing tart! 

Really ripe summer tomatoes are what make this tart so fantastic. Heirloom variety tomatoes are the perfect tomato for this tart but any just picked tomatoes from your local farmers market will do!

This tart is perfect for a brunch or lunch. Just serve it with a green salad for a complete summertime meal!

Star Spangled Cake Topper Tutorial

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and a giveaway!

This is a super easy festive topper for a cakes or cupcakes that's perfect for the 4th of July! I made these Star Spangled cookies as a centerpiece for the 4th a couple of years ago. I used the same method to make the fondant cake topper. I LOVE how they turned out and thought I'd share this idea with my Half Baked readers. These fun stars will make any cake the star of your 4th of July table!

About a pound of white fondant, gum paste, or a combination of the two, divided into three equal parts (you can buy the colors already mixed but for this small project, coloring a little white fondant is more cost efficient.)
red and blue  gel colors . Regular food coloring will not work.
star cookie cutters that fit inside one another, small, medium, and large.
18 gauge wire or toothpicks
Method:
Divide fondant/gum paste into three equal parts. Knead red food coloring to one piece, blue food coloring to one piece and leave the third piece white. Add enough food coloring to make the fondant a very bright red and blue. How much you need will depend on the amount of fondant you are coloring. Wear plastic gloves or put the fondant into a small ziplock baggie to knead in the food coloring or you'll have festive colored hands as well! 

Dust your work surface and a rolling pin lightly with a little powdered sugar or corn starch. Roll out all three colors of your fondant to about 1/4 inch thickness. I find it easier to thread a wire in the stars if they are not too thin. Try to roll all three colors of the fondant to about the same thickness. 
First cut out your largest star. Cut the center of the large star out with the medium sized star. Next cut out a medium sized star out and insert it into the cut out in the center of the large star. Finally, cut out the center of the medium star with the smallest star cutter. Cut a small star out and put it in the center of the medium star.

*Keep fondant covered with plastic wrap while not using as it dries out quickly. Thread a wire or toothpick into the bottom of the star, pushing it  at least half way into the star.  I let mine dry flat for a few hours and then them stuck them into a piece of oasis to dry completely. Cut wires to desired lengths.  Then I threaded the wire through festive straws but that's an optional step.

If using just fondant not a mix of fondant and gum paste, you may need to let the wired stars dry flat for several hours, up to overnight before picking them up. Gum paste or a 50/50 mix of gum paste and fondant dried fairly quickly and doesn't need as long to dry before you can use them.
Your toppers are ready to use!

We took the these photos at Waterberry Farm.

And now for the GIVEAWAY!

So far this summer has been an extremely busy one for me, fun but busy. Last summer our family farm along with several others in our area joined together to form The Route 52 Farm Trail. All the farms on the trail are open to the public on Saturday's June and July. We sell our produce, baked goods and preserves. This year we've added two local artisans work as well at Waterberry Farm. Fat Bird Designs sells gorgeous hand painted tea towels and other beautiful hand made goods. Beatrice and Lulu makes heirloom children's clothing and many other beautifully crafted items.
Ok so I guess not all of you will be able to visit is at Waterberry Farm. Never fear! Fat Bird Designs and Beatrice and Lulu have teamed up for a giveaway!!

Fat Bird Designs is giving away this stunning original, one-of-a-kind hand painted table runner.

 Beatrice and Lulu is giving away these adorable recycled chevron drink coasters. She makes the absorbent center using her daughters old baby bibs! So cool! Read about how she makes them here on her blog

She's also giving away one of her cute chevron print hats. The winner will be able to get the hat personalized with their monogram in the center!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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!!

For Extra Entries:

Like Half Baked on Facebook. Leave a separate comment letting me know
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Follow Half Baked on Pinterest Leave a separate comment letting me know

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!