In Arabic, 'Jannat' means heaven. And to me, that's exactly what Nutella is. Well any hazelnut spread really, but nothing beats good ol' Nutella. I just can't express my love for this chocolatey goodness. On hot toast in the mornings or as a midnight snack, with breadsticks, chappatis even. Anything! The best is, and I'm not ashamed to admit it, getting your fingers dirty and licking them off straight from the jar. It turns all of us into big kids.
When hazelnut meets chocolate, awesome chemistry is made. And at times I've wanted to sandwich macarons or other goodies with Nutella. But sometimes, the shop bought jar doesn't quite fit in with the homemade baked delights.
Recently, I ran out (shock horror) and thought I'd make my own. I read that it tastes better. I mean what could possibly be better than Nutella!? So I thought I'd finally give it a go.
Here's how I made it:
Ingredients:
230g hazelnuts
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 and 1/4 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons any flavourless oil, hazelnut oil works better, if available.
1/4 teaspoon salt
HOW TO MAKE THIS GOD GIVEN GIFT:
• Get your hazelnuts and put it in a baking tray in the middle shelf of an oven to roast for around 15 minutes. Or until you get a hazelnutty aroma wafting in the kitchen, but then that could also signal that they're burnt so....errr just keep an eye on 'em.
•If they're blanched you've saved yourself a lot of time. It also shows you have common sense to buy blanched nuts so you don't have to take the skin off later. But if you're non-sensical, like myself, (is that even a word?!) then once roasted, place them in a bowl with another bowl the same size on top and shake, shake, shake them, 'till they're practically naked.
•Grind them in a food processor until it turns into a thick paste like consistency, make sure to get all the oil out of them.
•Dollop in your icing sugar, oil, vanilla extract and salt and blend away.
•Now it could still be really thick, in that case add a bit more oil, if it's too smooth then you could add more icing sugar, or grind it for longer, some of us prefer it that way however. I know I do if I'm also gonna use it to fill stuff.
And voila, you have your own Nutella and though it's not quite the same, it tastes 100x more flavoursome then the real thing! Like heavennn *sings* And it couldn't be easier!
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| Kinda just added my own label, because I'm cool like that. |
Also, I just discovered that Nutella is actually pronounced as 'Noo-tella'. I think I fell more into a fit of hysterics, rather than disappointment as I found this out. Seriously?! NOO-tella. With my pea-NOOT butter sandwich?! Ha! No. Just no.
Try not to sleep with the jar of this amazing stuff. Because that's weird. Not that I do that or anything...
The Dainty Cook x
