Valentine's Day: Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (Updated)

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread 

Update: Okay, this is gooooood! I had it for breakfast this morning and must say it is so much better than the commercial brand. The jar I ate from had all the nutty bits left over from straining, so this is hyper-hazelnut flavoured. I "sampled" a taste from the other jar and it's more chocolately — just like what you'd expect from chocolate hazelnut spreads (smooth and creamy). Hopefully I managed to hide the fact I'd been into the jar. This will make a wonderful Valentine's Day gift.

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Did you know that the second ingredient in Nutella is sugar? How can that be something good to feed a child as breakfast food? I will admit I've never been a fan of the stuff, for exactly that reason — it's way too sweet. I've never tried the President's Choice Brand of Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, but I bet it's much closer to what I'd enjoy.

I've thought about finding a recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Spread for a while now, but it wasn't until a post on one of my favourite food bloggers, David Lebovitz, posted about a Homemade Nutella he made, that I bit. I trust this man's genius implicitly, so I decided to give it a whirl. There were a lot of planets aligning that made this weekend the perfect time to make it:

1. It's Valentine's Day tomorrow and Valentine's Day is ALL ABOUT CHOCOLATE (oh and those little cinnamon hearts, but that's not for this V-D).
2. Hubby is going away on a trip with his maman on Tuesday and she likes Nutella (what I won't do to keep in the maman's good books!)
3. Hubby needed a gift to bring to his brother and family. What better than something homemade and so good?

So, off I went with hubby this morning to find hazelnuts and whole powdered milk. It definitely behooves me to read the comments of any blog posting because they let me in on all kind of tips and potential trip-ups. I'm not a big filbert fan, but found it interesting to know that hazelnuts often go rancid, so I avoided the packaged ones at the Superstore. I found both tasty hazelnuts and whole powdered milk at my local Bulk Barn. Gosh I love that store! Never lets me down.

This recipe uses very little added sweetener, but that's probably because of the 11 ounces of chocolate it calls for. But more on that later. Earlier in the week I'd bought big bars of dark and milk chocolate from Lindt. Close to a 1/3 of the milk bar eaten later I thankfully still had enough to make the spread. Phew!

(I'm sorry, but my heart belongs to milk chocolate, which is why I only buy dark chocolate — because I can eat in small portions if I need a chocolate fix. Milk chocolate has nothing to do with a chocolate fix and everything to do with a creamy fix for me.)

This recipe is relatively easy to make. The most challenging thing was peeling the hazelnuts. The towel trick didn't work as well as I expected, but I wasn't really that worried because even though David Lebovitz didn't, I planned to strain the paste because the maman can't take that much fibre (and what I won't do to please the maman). Just like David said, the paste is is very liquid, but it makes more like 5 cups of spread, not 2. He promises that a few hours in the fridge will bring it to the perfect spreading consistency. In my 5th, but only half-filled jar, I put all the strained toasted nut bits, because I like the texture. So I got two 2-cup jars for gifts and one 1-cup jar for home.

I followed the recipe as provided on the blog, but made some of the changes he suggested like using all hazelnuts, and I went out on a limb and used 1 full cup of powdered whole milk because, really, what difference could that extra 1/8 of a cup make? I also used 2 full cups of hazelnuts, which I think even at 1-2/3 cup is already considerably more than what goes into a jar of Nutella. Might as well make it as protein-rich as possible if it's going to be served for breakfast, I say.

Preliminary taste testing indicates this is amazing! It's not too sweet for me, but I would like it darker and less sweet, so next time I make it, I will follow David's suggestion of using all dark chocolate and may halve the honey.

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread 

Here's the recipe as I made it:

David Lebovitz's Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Makes about 5 cups

Adapted from the Encyclopédie du Chocolat under the direction of Frédéric Bau, (and then re-adapted by moi, Kathy Mercure)

David says: I think you could use all dark chocolate, and perhaps skip the honey, but since I have two jars of this homemade Nutella in my refrigerator, it’s going to be a while before I make any more.

2 cups hazelnuts, peeled (or see below for how to peel)
1-3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup powdered whole milk
3 tablespoons  mild-flavored honey
pinch of salt
6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
5 ounces (140g) milk chocolate, chopped (use one that’s at least 30% cacao solids)

Spread the nuts on a baking sheet, keeping the almond separate, and toast the nuts in a 350°F (180°C) oven, stirring a few times, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the hazelnuts are browned. Remove them from oven. (If you couldn’t find peeled hazelnuts, place the hot toasted ones in a clean tea towel, fold them inside the towel and then rub them vigorously to remove any loose skins. They don’t need to be pristine; just try to get as much off as possible.)

While the hazelnuts are roasting, warm the whole milk and powdered milk in a small saucepan with the honey and salt just until it starts to boil. Remove from heat.

In a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, or in a microwave oven, melt the chocolates together until smooth.

In a food processor, grind the warm hazelnuts until they’re as fine as possible. You may not be able to get them completely smooth, depending on your food processor. Add the melted chocolate and continue to process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the work bowl, as necessary.

Once the mixture is smooth, add the warm milk mixture and process until everything is well combined. (The original instructions here said to strain the paste, which David didn’t do because he doesn’t mind the little bits of toasted nuts. I actually did strain, but then added the nut paste into a jar with less spread in it for a “crunchy” version.)

Transfer the mixture into two jars and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to thicken. The Chocolate Hazelnut Spread will keep in the refrigerator for at least one week.

My jar has all the bits of hazelnuts, so filberty!

I can't wait to eat this for breakfast tomorrow for a special Valentine's Day treat! The finger cleaning licks I had were heavenly. I have a loaf of walnut raisin bread and will try my Chocolate Hazelnut Spread on a couple of toasted pieces. With tea. Did I tell you I'm trying an experiment of not drinking coffee to see if that's contributing to my increasing heartburn?

I'll post another picture tomorrow of my breakfast. Tonight we're preparing a Valentine's Feast of Love that is very different from last year. I'll let you know how that one goes...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!