Hazelnut & Raspberry Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream Sandwiches

So I’m back with another semi reluctant Valentine’s day post (just like last year), I say semi because I’ve been super excited about this idea for a few weeks now but it’s just taken me a while to get around to making it, plus the fact I’ve also had a few baking mishaps, totally my fault my brain has been really spacey recently; it’s gone full on turbo.

Ginger & Orange Candied Nuts - Bakemas Day 16

Candied nuts were kind of a personal tradition for me around Christmas (yeah, I was the only one); I’d always go to London at the end of November and get nuts from a random man off the streets....that doesn’t sound fishy at all! For the past few years I haven’t been to London around Christmas, actually I’ve not been to London period and as much as love nuts off the streets (still sounds weird) street vendors...that sounds a little better, last year I finally decided to try and make my own. I was obsessed with these, now here’s the part where I start to add all the flavours into my candied nuts, seriously, it’s already begun!

Eton Mess with Rosé Soaked Strawberries Topped with Chocolate and Nuts

Is it just me or as a kid did you think eton mess was a made up name for something your mum put on the table for dessert and a cover up for it being a bunch of stuff cut up and bunged in cream. I always assumed she was saying "eaten mess", maybe it was just me.

This is eton mess the way my mum makes it...enhanced. She always used half cream half greek yogurt, which tastes so much better than all cream, it takes away some of the fattiness. I made hazelnut meringues which compliment the flavours so well and I don't drink but soaking the strawberries in rose wine makes this so much more mouth watering. It sweetens the strawberries so if they're a little out of season it's still tastes just as good, it's really worth not skipping this step.

Hazelnut Meringues with Drizzled Chocolate

I never really thought about making meringues before, I've made lemon meringue pie and things involving meringue but I never thought about making them to eat but this will definitely not be the last time. Give me a second to just drool over the flavour of hazelnut.... okay I'm good.

I am not the neatest person when it comes to food preparation, I always say I'm a little slap dash, I have the precision and creative ability in me to potentially make something look like it rolled out of a French patisserie with a gold halo surrounding it but I don't always have the patients and I'm much more interested in the flavours and getting to test it out after I'm done. I made these while a friend was over, mostly on purpose because although she barely bakes she loves piping, and me? depending on my mood I might just slap it on a tray and shove it in the oven....lovingly though. I'll just put a disclaimer here: be aware of piping these with a plain nozzle how you would typically ice a cupcake which is 50% icing, our first few attempts looked a little bit like a tray full of poop's, I suppose this disclaimer is also useful if you want your meringues to look like poo's.

Enough poo talk, these meringues are crunchy and chewy and the hazelnut, did I mention the hazelnut? If you think "ehh I'll just buy them" you need to make them anyway, once you've made them you'll be kicking yourself because you haven't done it till now, all those years with mediocre meringues that you'll never get back. I mainly made these to put in eton mess but with the leftovers we ate them with greek yogurt and fruit, all I can say is TASTE SENSATION and strawberries make everything taste better.

Nutella energy bites

I was obsessed with making energy bites last winter, I'd eat them instead of chocolate. I'd only ever made chocolate flavoured ones once and they were amazing but it was so long ago and I seem to have no recollection of the ingredients or where I got the recipe from...or if it was even a recipe. They'll always be a fond memory, maybe I'll remember one day but for now let's have some nutella balls instead.