Lia Marie Davie, of Sweetie Pies Treatery in Cottage Grove, loves to celebrate the joys of pairing home-roasted local hazelnuts with the ubiquitous Oregon blackberry. One result is her moist, and subtly sweet scone perfectly suited to breakfast gatherings.
Oregon Harvest Cones
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cold heavy cream
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour – spooned and leveled (plus more for work surface)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 cup frozen blackberries
1 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped (whole if adding to food processor)
brown sugar to taste (optional)
To toast hazelnuts:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Use a baking pan to toast a single layer of hazelnuts on center shelf until lightly colored with blistered skins (10-15 minutes). Wrap nuts in kitchen towel and let steam for a minute, then rub nuts in towel to remove most skins. Allow nuts to cool.
For the scones:
Set oven to 400°F. Whisk together cream, egg, and vanilla. In large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter (or add to food processor) into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces of butter remaining. Stir (or pulse) in the blackberries and hazelnuts. Stir in the creamy mixture with a fork until just combined with flour mixture. The dough should be crumbly. Do not overwork the dough!
Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured work surface and pat into a 6-inch circle. If the berries have thawed and caused the dough to get too liquid, work in more flour until the dough is less gooey. Cut dough into six wedges and transfer wedges to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush scone tops with cream (and sprinkle with brown sugar if desired).
Bake until golden brown (16-18 minutes) rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Scones can be further sweetened with more brown sugar sprinkles or drizzles of a powdered sugar/milk/vanilla glaze.
647 N 9th St.
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Noisette Pastry Kitchen, in downtown Eugene, is known for their fine baked goods and gourmet soups and sandwiches. Baker extraordinaire, Tobi Sovak, offers up a sweet, simple, and delicious cake creation featuring hazelnuts. Chef Michael Landsberg adds his recipe for hazelnut butter, underscoring the far-ranging culinary applications of the noble nut.
Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake*
1 pound butter, browned
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
8 egg whites (300 ml.)
In a heavy saucepan, brown butter with the scraped vanilla beans. Set aside to cool; they should remain liquid. Meanwhile, grind together the toasted hazelnuts and powdered sugar in a food processor. Add the flour and spices. Pour the dry mixture in a large bowl and whisk in the egg whites. Gradually add the brown butter, continuing to whisk as you incorporate.
Fill individual greased and sugared cake pans. Bake at 350°F until cake tester comes out clean – approximately 15-20 minutes.
*At Noisette, they serve these cakes with poached quince and caramel ice cream.
Hazelnut Honey Butter*
By weight:
200 grams hazelnuts
50 grams Sesame seeds, toasted
500 grams good-quality honey
200 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
salt to taste
Preheat oven to 325°F. Roast the hazelnuts on a baking tray for 10 minutes, or until fragrant. Rub the nuts in a clean tea towel to remove the skins. Rough chop the hazelnuts by hand or in a food processor. Put honey, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, and butter in a bowl and stir until well combined. Salt to taste. Spoon the honeycomb butter into sterilized jars and refrigerate for up to two weeks.
*This specialty treat has almost endless applications. Perfect for topping pancakes, stirring into your morning coffee or tea, or infusing with herbs. It is delicious on English muffins and other baked goods and serves as a unique flavor enhancer in soups or topping grilled steaks or sautéed fish.
200 W Broadway
Mon-Thurs, 7:30 am-7 pm; Fri-Sat, 7:30 am-10 pm; Sun, 7:30 am-6 pm
Sweet Life Patisserie in the Whiteaker neighborhood, has an enduring reputation for rich and unusual desserts and hand-baked delights. Sweet Life owner, Catherine Reinhart, offers up a tantalizing combination of fruit, almond, and hazelnuts with her take on a specialty tart.
Hazelnut Pear Frangipane Tart
Shortbread for tart shell:
8 ounces salted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
For the filling:
4 ounces salted butter
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 cup finely-ground hazelnuts
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the tart shell:
Combine butter, sugar, and flour until all come together. Do not overmix. Roll out and press into 9-inch shortbread tin. Bake until golden brown.
For the filling:
Cream butter and sugar in mixer until light. Add ground nuts, eggs, and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Place pre-baked shortbread shell back into a tart tin and fill. Slice pear and completely cover top of tart in an attractive fashion. Bake 40-50 minutes at 275°F until golden brown. Center should be firm. (Time may vary according to water content of fruit being baked.) Allow to cool. Finish with apricot glaze of your choice and a sprinkling of roughly-chopped nuts around the perimeter.
755 Monroe St.
Mon-Fri, 7 am-11 pm; Sat-Sun, 8 am-11 pm
Sweet Life Petite
1609 East 19th Ave
Mon-Fri, 7 am-10 pm; Sat-Sun, 8 am-10 pm
Hot Buttered Hazelnut Whiskey
Recipe adapted from adventuresincooking.com <https://adventuresincooking.com/2013/11/hot-buttered-hazelnut-whiskey.html>
3 cups milk or cream
2 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 cups whisky
3/4 cup Frangelico
Whipped cream
Cinnamon (for garnish)
Bring the milk and cinnamon sticks to a simmer in a thick-bottomed pot over low heat. Allow to gently simmer for 15 minutes, constantly stirring to keep the milk from cooking onto your pot.
Remove from heat and the cinnamon stick, pouring the milk into the serving glass. Add the whiskey and the Frangelico and stir to combine.
Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Serve immediately. Makes four servings.
