Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, and don’t call it Nutella

I love chocolate spreads of all kinds, but most of the time I prefer a quality Chocolate Hazelnut spread made from real chocolate, a large amount of hazelnuts and a real praliné flavor.

Of course pure praliné is my favorite product, but if it’s a product that can actually be spread on bread or brioche or a cookie, I prefer this excellent spread that you can easily make at home.

This spread has many variations, the recipe for the one I like to make I got from the Pastry Chef Christophe Michalak and since then I’ve changed it and adapted it to my taste. By the way, every chocolate spread is called in French “Pâte a Tartiner” (in simple translation, dough spread) and when it’s made at home it’s called “Pâte a Tartiner Maison” (Maison=home).

Unlike industrial spreads, this spread is made without preservatives, with a large amount of hazelnuts that give it a strong taste, it also has real chocolate and cocoa and of course sugar, you can even make it vegan. From here you already understand that its quality can not be compared to the quality of industrial products, try making it once and you won’t be able to stop.

Baking Tips
♦ For a vegan spread, only dark chocolate can be used and the powdered milk can be removed.
♣ You can lower the amount of sugar if you want a less sweet spread.
♠ When making a nut-based spread, naturally its texture can be obtained smoother or rougher, it all depends on the level of grinding. I like to leave it a little grainy to feel the taste and texture of the nuts, but kids, for example, will usually like a smoother spread.

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Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
300-330ml jar

Ingredients 

180g whole unpeeled hazelnuts
80g caster sugar
70g confectioner sugar
50g dark chocolate + 50g milk chocolate, chopped
15g powdered milk (possible)
10g cocoa powder
5g Fleur-de-Sel or pinch of salt
5g Canola oil (half tbsp)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Place the hazelnuts on a lined baking tray and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, let cool. Once cooled remove most of the skins. Divide into two parts of 80g and 100g.
2. Caramel: In a medium heavy-duty saucepan heat sugar, until it melts into a brown amber-colored liquid. Pour the caramel on a parchmant paper and let cool. Break the caramel into pieces, be careful not to get cut.
3. Prepare praliné paste: Transfer 80g of nuts and the caramel pieces to a food processor, grind until a fairly smooth, buttery paste forms. This process can take a few minutes, make sure you stop the processor every so often to scrape down the sides. Remove the praliné paste from the food processor and set aside.
4. Prepare Gianduja: Transfer 100g of nuts and powdered sugar to the food processor, grind for a few minutes until you get a creamy smooth paste. At the same time, melt chocolate (milk and dark) on a Bain-Marie or in a microwave, cool and add to the food processor, continuing to grind until a smooth paste is obtained.
5. Add the praliné paste, powdered milk, cocoa powder, salt and oil to the Gianduja in the food processor and grind until smooth. The more you grind, the more liquid and smoother the spread will be, it’s a matter of taste.
6. Pour the spread into a clean jar and keep at room temperature for about 3 weeks (for a less liquid spread you can keep it in the fridge).
Spread on various breads, brioches, croissants (after baking), cookies, ice cream, crepes, pancakes and most importantly – eat it with a spoon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bon-Appétit
Sharon