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hazelnut

Gianduja Roulade

March 25, 2011

Gianduja Roulade

That’s just fancy talk for rich hazelnut chocolate ganache rolled into a hazelnut sheet cake rich with chocolate and more hazelnuts.

As you’ve probably noticed, there is a lot of chocolate being eaten in the Purple Foodie household. And this time, with a bag of fresh hazelnuts at hand, I had to put together one of the world’s greatest food pairings: chocolate + hazelnut.

I made the hazelnut ganache from scratch – which means I toasted the hazelnuts, ground it to a paste, and then mixed it with dark chocolate and cream. If the cake didn’t bake in 8 minutes, I’m pretty sure I’d have licked the bowl of ganache clean.

If you’re not particularly inclined on making the ganache from scratch, you could make the ganache with Nutella. Will work just as well.

Gianduja Roulade Recipe

Adapted from: Pure Dessert (USA | UK | India)
Equipment: A 12×16 inch or 11×17 inch baking sheets with rimmed edges, or two 9×9 inch baking pans, or jelly roll pans.

Gianduja Ganache

Ingredients

  • 4 oz / 100g hazelnuts, toasted
  • 4 oz / 100g dark chocolate
  • 4 oz / 100g icing sugar
  • 8 oz / 200g light cream (I use 25% fat)

Cooking Directions

  1. Toast the hazelnuts in at 175°C/350°F, until they are fragrant and light brown. Let them cool a little before transferring it to a mixer for grind to a paste starting with half the sugar, and then adding the rest of the sugar until it's a homogenous paste. Transfer this paste to a bowl and then add the chocolate. In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate-hazelnut mixture. Stir till all the chocolate has melted and then refrigerate until ready to do.

Hazelnut Cake

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1.5 oz / 50g hazelnuts, toasted
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 6 oz/ 180g dark chocolate
  • 4 oz/ 100g butter
  • 4 eggs, seperated
  • 2/3rd cup / 130g caster sugar
  • cocoa powder, for dusting

Cooking Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F.
  2. Pulse the nuts with the flour in a food processor until finely ground. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, melt the chocolate and butter over a pot of simmering water. Once melted, remove from heat and then stir in the egg yolks and half the sugar (1/3rd cup).
  4. In another bowl whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Then slowly add the remaining sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form.
  5. Fold in about a 1/4th of the whites into the egg mixture. Then scrape all of the egg mixture into the bowl, sprinkle with the flour and hazelnut mixture and fold it in.
  6. Spread the batter evenly into prepared pans. I preferred making mine into smaller roulades, so I divided the batter into two 9 inch square pans.
  7. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.Now, finally when the cake has cooled, invert it on a sheet of foil and then spread it with the gianduja paste. Start rolling it with the help of the foil. There will be cracks, but it gets less severe as it thickens to one cake.
  8. Refrigerate for a while before slicing, to have neat slices. Dust with cocoa powder to serve.

{ 10 comments }

Flourless Hazelnut Cookies

July 20, 2010

hazelnut cookies

Do you have midnight cookie hankerings?  I’m pretty sure you do. And even when there might be some cookie crumbs in the jar or a pack of cookies in the pantry, all you want is a fresh, warm cookie, right out of the oven.

But isn’t it annoying to get ingredients for a cookie ready when you simply want to fast forward to the eating stage? Waiting for the butter to soften is a task in itself, of course, along with the hassle of sifting the flour and baking powder together. Gah! Might as well just go off to bed and dream of cookies instead!

What if I told you I’m sharing with you a three-ingredient recipe that you can whip up in no time? To top that we’re even going to make miniature size hazelnut cookies, so they get baked a lot sooner. This recipe, my friends, is going to be the only one you need when you crave for a delicious snack and haven’t much time at hand.

I’m addicted to these cookies. Addicted, I tell you. I have made them thrice in two days and I just can’t stop eating them. I never considered myself to be a cookie fiend, but a lot has changed since I put this hazelnut cookie in my mouth. That too without feeling an ounce of guilt – these are flourless butterless cookies! In addition to becoming a fan of the flavour, I’ve a new found respect for egg whites. They make the flourless cookie so crunchy!

I love these flourless cookies plain, I love these flourless cookies sandwiched with a smear of Nutella and best of all, I love these flourless cookies with ice cream. Take a scoop of either chocolate or vanilla ice cream and crush these crunchy bits of hazelnut cookie goodness on top of it. You will be floored.

Not only is this delicious to eat (but then, anything with hazelnuts is!), the smell is phenomenal. There have been times I’ve just opened the jar of hazelnut cookies to get a whiff of the toasted hazelnuts. The fragrance is nothing short of intoxicating.

Of course, you don’t need to wait for a midnight cookie craving to make these.

hazelnut cookies

Flourless Butterless Italian Hazelnut Cookies  (aka Brutti ma Buoni)

Adapted from: Eating Well
Yield: 40-45 cookies, 1 inch in diameter

Ingredients:

1 cup hazelnuts, lightly toasted and skinned
½ cup sugar
2 large egg whites
a pinch of salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
Sliced hazelnuts for garnish (optional)

Equipment: Silpat (because you really don’t want to line bakig sheets, and then struggle to get this piece of heaven off it. An absolute must!)

Method:

  1. Preheat to 160°C/325°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
  2. Pulse nuts and sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Scrape into a large bowl.
  3. Beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
  4. Using a silicone spatula, fold the egg whites into the nut mixture. Add vanilla and gently but thoroughly mix until combined.
  5. Transfer the mixture to a disposable piping bag and snip off the tip. Pipe the batter on the Silpat, making sure to keep a uniform size under 1 inch in diameter, as well as maintaining a finger’s distance between cookies.
  6. Tap the baking sheet a few times on the counter, this will help spread the cookie and give a flat cookie with a good snap.
  7. Sprinkle the cookie batter with the sliced hazelnuts.
  8. Place the baking sheet in the centre of the oven and bake until golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Switch the pans back to front. Keep an eye on it; it goes from golden brown to brown very quickly, given the tiny size.
  9. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Gently transfer the butterless cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Store in an airtight container for upto a week. But I bet it won’t last that long.

{ 43 comments }

Hazelnut Extract (so easy!)

May 18, 2010

Hazelnut Extract

If you’ve hung around here a while, you’ll know that I’m pretty obsessed with hazelnuts (hazelnut cheesecake, hazelnut truffles, hazelnut cake, Nutella cookies, Nutella cupcakes, being some of my favourites). And to think that a hazelnut fanatic like me can’t find some quality hazelnut extract around here is a total shame.

After reading up on how homemade liqueurs and extracts are made, I made the extract with tweaks to a liqueur recipe and ended up with something extremely flavourful. Now this might not be the most ‘authentic’ way to make extract, but I promise you, you won’t complain once you smell the buttery, luxuriant extract at the end of 4 weeks. And just because we can, we’re going to add a vanilla bean to make the extract smell even sweeter.

One thing that is extremely important, and shouldn’t be skipped is toasting the hazelnuts. When you toast the hazelnuts, you will see that the oils from the hazelnuts come to the surface and make it shiny. This is the oil you want emulsified into your extract, this is the fragrance you want to capture.

Hazelnut Extract

Hazelnut Extract Recipe

4 oz.  (100g) hazelnuts
3/4th cup or (180ml) vodka
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
½ cup sugar
1/4th cup water

  1. Toast the hazelnuts in the oven at 175C/350F for 8-10 minutes or until fragrant.
  2. While still hot, transfer them into a jar with vodka.
  3. Add the innards of the vanilla bean along with the vanilla bean to the jar.
  4. Let the flavours infuse for 3-4 weeks in a cool, dry place.
  5. The colour of the extract will darken with time.
  6. At the end of 3-4 weeks, drain the hazelnuts from the extract and reserve the extract. Crush the hazelnuts up and push it through a sieve to remove every last bit of flavour.
  7. In a saucepan, heat the sugar and water together. At this point, adding the crushed hazelnuts is optional, but I went ahead and did it, just so I extract every ounce of flavour from it.
  8. Bring the sugar syrup to a boil (and strain it, if you’ve added the crushed hazelnuts to it in the step above) and add it to the hazelnut extract mixture. You can now discard the crushed hazelnuts.
  9. Shake it up and store in a sterilised bottle (These 1/2 pint jars would be just adorable for storage!)
  10. Enjoy a dash of hazelnut flavour with whatever you like!
  11. I now store mine in the refrigerator.

{ 30 comments }

Nutella Pop Tarts!

May 10, 2010

Nutella Pop Tarts

I have a confession to make: I have never bought a pop tart in my life, ever. And although I went ahead and made strawberry pop tarts after finding a gorgeous recipe online, I didn’t really have anything to compare them with. So I couldn’t say things like “Oh it was the even better than the store bought one that awfully dry and has a tonne of preservatives and whatnot.” And frankly, it didn’t bother me much because the ones I made got rave reviews from all the eaters and the cutesy photos garnered some Stumble love as well.

Today, with some leftover pie dough in my freezer and a bottle of Nutella staring at me from across the room, I realised it was high time I ripped open the seal of that bottle for some Nutella happiness. One spoon for me, one spoon for the pop tarts seemed like a good ratio when it came to dolloping the pie dough with the Nutella; and that’s exactly what I did.

Making Nutella Pop Tarts

All you need is some pie dough and Nutella.
  • Start by rolling out and cutting into 1×3 inch rectangles.
  • Next, dollop some Nutella chocolate cream on the dough, making sure it’s only on one of the short edges and not too close to it.
  • Then fold the other side over the Nutella and seal the edges by gently pinching the sides with your fingers and then crimping the edges with a fork.
  • Pop this into the fridge for about 15 minutes
  • Once that’s done, remove it and bake it in a preheated oven at 170C/350F for 10-12 minutes.
  • Next, pull it out to brush it with a little egg wash for a nice, golden sheen.
  • Pop it back into the oven for another 5-7 minutes.
  • Letting it cool afterward is optional because, well, it’s Nutella! The only thing I’d do differently is find a way to maintain the gooey texture of Nutella instead of letting it dry out into the pie dough. I thought not poking the tops with knives and forks might help  keep the moisture in, but I was wrong. Maybe next time I will thin it down with a little cream. But then I’m afraid, everything will get too mushy. What do you think?

Nutella Pop Tarts

For reference:
Strawberry Pop Tarts
Pie dough 101

PS: I’ve just moved to WordPress over the weekend, so if you face any trouble or find any broken links, please let me know? Thank you!

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Hazelnut Chocolate Truffles

February 12, 2010

Chocolate Truffles
I love chocolate truffles for two reasons:
  1. You have an excuse to grab the best chocolate in your pantry.
  2. Truffles freeze really well. This gives you a chance to make lots of them and simply freeze them. Just pull them out whenever you feel the sudden compulsive need to satiate your chocolate craving. Like right now, at 2 am on a quiet Friday morning.
I could lengthen this list, but you don’t really need any convincing to make chocolate truffles, do you?
Now some of you might think that truffle-making is a fancy art, one that only a pro-chocolatier is adept at. Wrong. With three simple ingredients (chocolate, cream and your choice of coating) and a basic understanding of the process, you will be on your way to rolling out the most stunning chocolate creations.
And with V-day just around the corner, you can make truffles as presents for your loved one… even if you don’t know how to cook! (Thank you, whoever you are. I’m going to assume you’re hanging around here for the photography and writing (maybe?), so I’m flattered.)
Dark chocolate, hazelnut, milk chocolate
I’m always looking at trying out different newer varieties for my truffles, so I’ve listed a whole bunch of variations that might be worth a try. This list is nowhere close to being exhaustive. I hope to update this with newer ideas and flavour combinations, so do share what you have on your mind in the discussion below. You can get creative and make a flavour that suits you best. But please don’t make a truffle with rice crispies or citrus peel, dust it with matcha, and then come back and tell me that your girlfriend almost choked on it. However, if you work at Patrick Roger’s and think this could be your next signature truffle (and maybe looking to hire someone), then Comment ça va?!
Chocolate Ganache
Truffle Flavour variations:
To stir into cream:
  • Alcohol – raspberry, kirsch, kahlua, baileys, Cointreau, grand marnier, Amaratto
  • Pistachio paste
  • Gianduja
  • Caramel
Or for steeping in cream (bring the cream to a boil with any of the following, and let it sit for at least 20 minutes. Bring it to a boil again to pour over chocolate):
  • Espresso powder or any other flavouring powder you may want to include
  • Citrus peel
  • Fresh fragrant flowers like rose petals (I’m so excited to try this!)
  • Hot Spices: ginger, chilli powder, black pepper
  • Sweet Spices: vanilla beans, cinnamon, cardamom
  • Herbs: lemongrass, mint, rosemary, lemon balm leaves, kefir lime leaves, thyme
And/or stir into chocolate ganache:
  • Roasted, chopped nuts
  • Rice crispies
  • Chopped white chocolate
And finally the coatings:
  • The ubiquitous cocoa powder
  • Roasted, chopped nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans
  • Shredded coconut
  • Candied fruits and flowers
  • Tempered chocolate
The garnish (optional or when tempered chocolate is used as a coating):
  • Vanilla bean seeds mixed into white chocolate and spooned over each truffle
  • Matcha powder
  • Sea salt
Chocolate Truffles

 

Given my love for hazelnut, it’s no surprise that I made truffles with roasted hazelnuts. I crushed them into really, really tiny morsels (this allows you to just feel the subtle crunch and flavour that comes through, without biting into a chunk of it.) And to maintain the distinctness of textures of chocolate and hazelnut, I sifted the crushed hazelnuts and let go of the hazelnut fairy dust. I’m not a very bitter-chocolatey person, so I used 50% milk chocolate that orangefoodie got me from Paris (the Paris post is next, I promise!)
To make these truffles I consulted none other than Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet. This book of hers is one that every chocolate lover must own. Although I’ve probably said it many times before, I don’t think I can praise this book enough. This is the only one you’ll need to refer to for anything to do with chocolate. Quite like how  Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours is for baking.

 

Chocolate Truffles - WIP
Hazelnut Truffles
Makes: 50 truffles
8 oz. / 225g. bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used 4 oz bittersweet and 4 oz. milk)
1 cup/ 200g. heavy cream
2 oz. / 60g. hazelnuts, toasted, then chopped up and sifted
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  1. To make the ganache: Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil over a low heat. Pour it over the chocolate and let it stand for 2 minutes, then stir gently, until the chocolate has completed melted. Let it cool a bit, after which you can stir in the chopped hazelnuts. Next, get a shallow container and line it with parchment paper. Pour the ganache on it and spread evenly. Refrigerate this for 4 hours or overnight.
  2. To form truffles: Once the ganache has firmed up, score lines on the sheet of ganache inn the box to give you 50 squares. This way, you can achieve even sized truffles. Now pluck each square from the parchment and roll it into a 1 inch ball. Depending on how warm your environment is, you might need to refrigerate the rolled truffles for another hour before you can coat them.
  3. Coat the truffles: Once rolled into balls, toss them in a plate of sifted cocoa and coat them evenly.

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