Thursday 8 September 2011

chocolate hazelnut spread (or ice cream sauce)

Recipe: Chocolate hazelnut spread (or ice cream sauce) · Kitchen & Aroma
We always have a jar of organic chocolate hazelnut spread for the children in the kitchen (no, I never buy Nutella, never!) but I also like making my own. My current food processor doesn't make it as smooth as I want it to be but it tastes really good. The children helped me put this recipe together, they were the ones who said put more cocoa or make it a bit sweeter. We spread it not only on bread or crackers, we also love the home-made version on ice cream – it's dangerously good!

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT SPREAD

INGREDIENTS

  • 100 g hazelnuts, toasted
  • 2 tablespoons raw cane sugar (or 1 tbsp and 3 tbsp agave)
  • 2 tablespoons agave nectar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar, organic
  • 2½ tablespoons cocoa powder, organic
  • 3½-4 tablespoons coconut oil (if solid place the jar in a bowl of hot water before use)

METHOD

  1. First you have to toast the hazelnuts in an oven or on a frying pan and then remove the skin. I usually use a non-stick frying pan and it takes about 10 minutes until the skin starts to loosen. I stir the nuts occasionally on the pan and I allow them to cool on a plate before I peel of the skin with my fingers. You can also shake them in a wire sieve to help loosen the skin. If toasting the nuts in an oven: Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Place the hazelnuts into a baking tray, put them in the hot oven and set a timer to 4-5 minutes (yes, use a timer, you don't want to forget them in the oven!). Allow them to cool before peeling of the skin or shake them in a wire sieve. Whether using a frying pan or an oven, make sure you don't burn the nuts
  2. Place the cooled down and skinless nuts in a food processor and blend as well as you can. Depending on how good your food processor is, you might occasionally want to stop the blender, scrape the sides of the bowl and continue blending
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients (start with 3½ tablespoons of coconut oil) and blend well in the food processor. If you are using the version with 3 tablespoons agave and 1 raw cane sugar then start with 3 tablespoons coconut oil
  4. Keep the spread in the fridge but let it stand for about 15 minutes before serving because the coconut oil makes it solid. If using the spread as an ice cream sauce you can serve it straight from fridge

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