Nutella Ice Cream

Greetings once again!

Well, it seems as if it is actually happening. I move out this week to start a new chapter of my life, away from my family, my hometown, my whole life as I know it thus far. The (sort of) country girl moves to the big city, the bright lights of Sydney, Australia. Am I scared? A little. Am I making this out to be more dramatic than it is? Absolutely. 

But it actually is, as Will Ferrell stated in Anchorman, "kind of a big deal".

You'd think I'd be dreading going to uni - self-motivated, a billion books to read, top-notch-essays-or-death - but I'm actually just super excited to jump back in the game, particularly doing a degree I will love. School was great, don't get me wrong, but I am soooo ready to do things my way (to a point, hehe).

And if I screw up, and nothing works out, I always have this ice cream. Ice cream solves anything. Anytime, anywhere, whatever the weather (it's pouring down where I am at the moment), ice cream will cure your troubles. ESPECIALLY ice cream with nutella in it. The rules of science pretty much dictate that nutella ice cream is frozen happiness. I'm awesome at science. Really.

Lately I haven't been one for egg-based, or custard, ice creams. They take up so much time and there's too much danger of making scrambled eggs for my liking. So I have found a great non-custard ice cream base that you can pretty much add anything to. That's where the nutella comes in.

I had waaaaaay too much leftover nutella from the (amazing) nutella brownies I posted last time. Soooo I just HAD to make this ice cream. It was my duty. So here it is :)

Make and eat this ice cream. Eat it anytime -  in happiness, in sadness, in sickness and in health. You will have a wonderful life together, I'm sure.

Nutella Ice Cream

Makes 1.25 litres

Adapted from Cuisinart Simple Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2/3 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups full cream milk

3 cups thickened cream

1 cup Nutella

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

In a medium bowl, stir together the two sugars to combine.

In a medium saucepan, gently heat the milk and cream over low heat. Add the Nutella and stir gently over the heat until incorporated. Add to the sugars, add the vanilla and beat with a hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until the sugars are dissolved.

Churn mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. I like a softer ice cream, so I only churn mine for about 25 minutes.

Eat on the spot, or for a firmer consistency, freeze.

P.S.

I got these cute little ice cream spoons a while ago and have been dying to use them in a post! They enhance the ice cream-eating experience I believe!

Nutella Brownies

HAPPY WORLD NUTELLA DAY! 

Yes folks, it legitimately is World Nutella Day today, February 5th! I found this out a couple of days ago and I'm so glad I didn't miss it! Pretty sure it should be a public holiday, Nutella is of vast importance in contemporary society and it should not go unnoticed. So I think you should all get behind the cause and eat the delicious chocolate hazelnut spread armed with a spoon and a super big tub of the stuff!

What else has been happening in my life, you ask? Well I have just about recovered from my glandular fever (hooray!), and am feeling as fit as a fiddle, ready to do the things one should in the holidays preceding university. I've started packing to move out, it certainly feels odd packing the contents of my life into a suitcase (or let's face it, various suitcases, I have a lot o' junk). But other than that, just waiting, waiting, waiting for life to begin again.

But let's talk about these brownies. I went kinda crazy with the whole "Nutella Day" concept and made both brownies and ice cream, which I will save for a post in the very near future. Sooooo these brownies have Nutella in them, and on them in the form of a hella good frosting. You could have them without it, but I thought I'd go all out and whack it on anyway! Oh, and they have Ferrero Rocher chocolates in them too, just to add that extra level of "health". And insane goodness.

To top it all off I added sprinkles, because sprinkles are completely necessary.

In a hilarious episode of miscommunication, I bought a huge tub of Nutella even though Mum already bought said-needed-tub the day before. And for good measure I bought a little one too. So now we won't be needing to buy Nutella for pretty much the rest of our lives. But it's not a bad situation to be in I don't think!

People! Do not waste this opportunity! These brownies are pretty much the best thing ever. Like, EVER. Make them for your friends, make them for your family, hell, make them for your worst enemy!  I can guarantee they won't be your nemesis for long. And again, happy World Nutella Day!

Nutella Brownies

{Adapted from My Baking Addiction }

Makes 18

Ingredients:

For the brownies:

100g dark chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup Nutella

3/4 cup unsalted butter, chopped into cubes

1 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups plain flour

12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates, chopped in half

For the frosting:

1 cup Nutella

2/3 cup thickened cream

1 tbsp maple syrup

125g unsalted butter, diced

Sprinkles (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line a brownie pan with baking paper.

In a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate, Nutella and butter together until smooth and shiny. Whisk in eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla. Sift in flour and stir till combined.

Spread half the batter into the tray and scatter Ferrero Rochers evenly over the batter. Top up with remaining batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean, but DON'T OVERBAKE.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool completely.

For the frosting, heat the cream and syrup in a small saucepan until just boiling. Remove from heat and stir in Nutella and butter until smooth. Refrigerate until the frosting is thickened, then either spread over brownies and cut into squares, or pipe onto individual squares. Sprinkle with sprinkles and enjoy!

Nutella Muffins

Hello once again :)

Sigh. It's cold. Winter is coming...

And also: yay! Winter's coming! I can wear Ugg boots all day and drink hot drinks all the time and supremely enjoy turning my electric blanket on at night!

I'm not sure what the weather's like at your house, but here at mine, it's blustery and chilly and the air is so clear and fresh. Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year. I just feel so alive! When you breathe in, you appreciate the oxygen filling your lungs, and when you go outside, you can just SMELL THE NATURE! It's so invigorating! It makes me feel like I can run off into the forest and brefriend some big-eyed woodland animals and sing and dance with them while they braid my hair.

...Or maybe, I could just make some muffins?

Ooh! It was my birthday this week. Wednesday the 23rd. I had a lovely birthday, made extremely special by my family and good friends. And my mum made me a cake! All by herself! Made with love, and chocolate! It was amazing, better than any store-bought cake. Maybe you should bake more often, Mum. (Hint.)

Speaking of baking... Muffins! Nutella! Strawberries! More Nutella! To me, it sounds like a recipe for success.

Do I really need to explain these? I think they speak for themselves, loud and clear. To be enjoyed any time, anywhere. Anything with Nutella is bound to be good - but these are friggin' amazing!

I don't usually make muffins, but I saw these in the Nutella cookbook I bought when in Noumea last month. And yes, before you ask, I HAVE A NUTELLA COOKBOOK.

It's in French, but luckily for me, je parle le francais!

So I used these muffins as an excuse to say I was studying French. Which I was. Sort of.

S'il vous plait, faites ces muffins. Vous ne regretterez rien!

P.S. I translated the recipe for you, because I'm really nice.

Nutella Muffins

{Recipe adapted from 'Les Petits Plats' Nutella Cookbook, by Sandra Mahut}

Makes 12

Ingredients:

200g plain flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

100g caster sugar

Pinch of salt

3 eggs

100g melted butter

100ml pouring cream

1 tbsp milk

100g milk chocolate

75g Nutella

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Sift flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl, and mix in sugar and salt.

In another bowl, beat the eggs with the cream until well combined, then add the melted butter and again, mix well.

In a bain-marie (heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, making sure water doesn't touch bottom of bowl), melt together the chocolate and milk, stirring until smooth and glossy.

Add the melted chocolate and Nutella to the egg-cream-butter mixture, stirring until combined. Fold into the dry ingredients, incorporating until just combined.

In 12 muffin cases sitting in muffin tins, divide the mixture, filling until cases are 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.

{Optional}

Once completely cool, scoop out a little divet in the top of the muffins. Fill with a little nutella, and place a little strawberry in there, as if it were enjoying a realxing, nutella-y bath!