HOMEMADE NUTELLA

I have been testing out some recipes lately, mainly experimenting with fillings for profiteroles. Whilst I was standing in my kitchen, eating Nutella out of the jar with a tablespoon (yes, I’m a pig!), I decided to come up with a chocolate hazelnut filling for my profiteroles.  Since its a very rich filling, I thought I might try it out in some mini profiteroles rather than the full-sized ones.

So I trawled the internet trying to find recipes for homemade Nutella.  There are loads of them! Some using cocoa powder, some not, some using powdered milk, some not.  I decided to keep it simple and use some common sense…chocolate, hazelnuts, sugar and cocoa powder, with a little oil to loosen the mix up a bit.

This was very straightforward and easy to make, and also very quick. The results are well worth it.

Ingredients
150g whole hazelnuts
100g milk chocolate
100g dark chocolate (70%)
110g icing sugar
60g cocoa powder
3 or 4 tbsp rapeseed or vegetable oil
1-2 tbsp golden syrup (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 180°C/160° Fan/350°F.  Then place your hazelnuts into a baking tray and roast them  for about 10mins or until brown.  Keep an eye on them though as they can easily turn from golden brown to burnt!

While your nuts are browning in the oven, break up your chocolate and melt slowly in a bowl over simmering water.  I used a mix of dark and milk chocolate but you can stick to just milk chocolate if that’s your preference.

When the chocolate is thoroughly melted and smooth, take off the heat to cool down.  (TIP: add a pinch of salt to melted chocolate as it brings out the chocolate flavour).  Meanwhile, take your hazelnuts out of the oven and set aside to cool.  Because I was in a bit of a rush, I transferred them to a plate and placed the plate in the fridge for a few minutes.

Once they’ve cooled down a bit place them into a food processor and whizz…

Stop when they look like this…

Once they are sufficiently crushed, add the icing sugar and cocoa powder then add your melted chocolate.  (You should add them to the food processor with the crushed hazelnuts but I have used a separate bowl here for the purposes of the photo and so you can see properly.)

Add 2 tablespoons of which ever oil you’re using.  I used rapeseed oil.

Turn the food processor on and after a few seconds add a little more oil.  This is really a judgement call.  You can see for yourself how much it needs.  Add it very slowly.  Its easy enough to add oil, impossible to remove it!  As a guide, maybe another tablespoon or two.  But really you have to judge it for yourself.

Keep whizzing the mix for about 5 minutes or until it looks smooth.  At this point I decided to add a tablespoon of golden syrup, just because I love golden syrup in chocolate.  I also love clear honey in chocolate so you could try that as an alternative.  Or you can leave it out altogether.  Most people don’t add it in but I liked it.  I also added about a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

You ideally want to end up with a smooth, molten mixture.  If it still looks stiff, add a little more oil or whizz it for a bit longer.

When you’re happy with it, transfer the mixture into a clean jar, seal and place in the fridge. It is tempting to eat this as it is, and believe me, I had a few spoonfuls!  But try to resist the temptation. From this mix I filled one full jar and 3/4 of another jar.  I’m sure it would have been two full jars had I not eaten so much from my food processor.

Ideally, its best to take it out of the fridge about half an hour before you want to eat it, especially if you’re spreading it on bread or toast.

And that’s all there is to it.  You can adapt it to your own preferences.  You don’t necessarily need to add vanilla or syrup…you can do what you want.  However your main ingredients are needed…chocolate, hazelnuts, cocoa powder, icing sugar and oil.  After that you can pretty much do what you want.

As much as I love Nutella, there is something deeply satisfying about making your own.  It would also make a lovely home-made gift if you wrapped it up nicely.  Give it a go!