Home-made Nutella

Last week, before we had a cooker, I made a (very successful) no-bake Nutella cheescake. This week, with a brand new range cooker installed in the kitchen, I made a batch of home-made Nutella.

Hazelnuts are currently in season and a big hazelnut tree hangs over our fence offering up its bounty. Shelling them is a time-consuming chore, but once you get into the rhythm (and stop banging your fingers) it’s very satisfying.

As chance would have it, this week we were in Ultracomida in Aberystwyth having a coffee and I got one of their cookbooks off a shelf. In it was a recipe for home-made Nutella.

There are 6 ingredients, all of which (except perhaps the hazelnuts) you already have in your kitchen.

However, next time I make it, I’d tweak the recipe slightly. It contains a ‘scant ½ pint’ of milk. The resulting ‘spread’ was a bit too thin. I think it could do with as little as a ¼ pint of milk.

Despite this, it made a fabulous dipping sauce for biscuits or croissants. I also had some as an ice cream topping… it made a wonderful combination!

If you choose to make a ‘thick’ version, a lovely idea would be to form it into shapes and wrap them to make lovely gifts. You can buy chocolate moulds in the shape of hearts, balls and domes.

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Home-made Nutella

2019-09-26 15:48:53

Yields 1

Ingredients

140g/5oz sugar
55g/2oz unsweetened cocoa powder
285ml/scant ½pt milk
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 heaped tbsp ground hazelnuts

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Instructions

Put the sugar and cocoa into a saucepan and stir until blended
Gradually stir in the milk
Bring to the boil over a gentle heat, stirring constantly, then lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes
Remove from the heat and leave to cool for at least 5 minutes
Add the vanilla extract, peanut butter and ground hazelnuts, stirring until perfectly amalgamated
Leave to cool and pot up in a jar

By Elisabeth Luard

Adapted from Recipes & Ramblings

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: No-bake Nutella cheesecake

I’ve been pining for my stove and oven; there’s been no home-made bread, cakes or biscuits for almost 2 months.

Consequently, when I came across Nigella’s no-bake Nutella cheesecake recipe, I knew it was the one to make for this week’s Cakes & Bakes recipe.

I’ve not unpacked many of my kitchen appliances – just the yoghurt maker, toaster, microwave and slow-cooker. I had to grind my digestive biscuits with a pestle & mortar; they did a ‘fine’ job!

Surprisingly, Nutella is something that, we only discovered today, neither of us remembers ever buying or tasting before. What’s wrong with us? What a treat we’ve been missing out on!

Even without the aid of electrical appliances to do all the hard work, this recipe was quick and simple to prepare. And it’s just so delicious and morish… definitely one that will be made again & again.

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No-bake Nutella cheesecake

2019-09-18 14:34:45

Ingredients

250g/8¾oz digestive biscuits
75g/2⅔oz soft unsalted butter
1 x 400g jar Nutella (at room temperature)
100g/3½oz chopped toasted hazelnuts
500g/17⅔oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
60g/2oz icing sugar (sifted)

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Instructions

Break the digestive biscuits into the bowl of a processor, add the butter and a 15ml tablespoon of Nutella and blitz until it begins to clump
Add 25g/3 tablespoons of the hazelnuts and continue to pulse until you have a damp, sandy mixture
Tip into a 23cm/9" round spring-form cake tin and press into the base either using your hands or the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge to chill.
Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth and then add the remaining Nutella to the cream cheese mixture. Continue beating until combined
Take the spring-form out of the fridge and carefully smooth the Nutella mixture over the base
Scatter the remaining chopped hazelnuts on top to cover and place the tin in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight
Serve straight from the fridge for best results

By Nigella Lawson

Adapted from Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Chocolate oblivion truffle torte

Rose Levy Beranbaum named this recipe Chocolate oblivion truffle torte. It’s a mere 3 ingredients; chocolate, butter and eggs. And it cooks in 15 minutes.

In this Food52 article, she guides the reader through the reasons why she chooses to use particular ingredients and methods to make this torte. Eggs and butter at room temperature, a particular percentage of cocoa solids in the chocolate, whipping the eggs over heat, the water bath to cook…

To make an easy cake recipe even easier, I not only lined the bottom of the tin but also the sides. This meant that I didn’t have to faff around with heating the tin to get the torte out and on to the serving plate.

It was delicious – and a little goes a long way. I halved the recipe and it still made 8 portions.

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Chocolate oblivion truffle torte

2019-08-07 10:22:03

Cook Time

15 min

Cook Time

15 min

Ingredients

454g / 16oz dark chocolate (fine quality, but no higher than 62%)
227g 8oz unsalted butter, room temperature
6 large eggs, room temperature

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425°F/Gas mark 7
In a large, heat-proof bowl set over a pan of hot, not simmering water (don't allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water) place the chocolate and butter and allow it to stand, stirring occasionally, until smooth and melted. (You can also use a microwave on higher power, stirring every 20 seconds)
In a large mixing bowl, set over a pan of simmering water, heat the eggs, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, until just warm to the touch. Immediately remove the bowl to the stand mixer and, with the whisk attachment on high speed, beat about 5 minutes until triple in volume and the eggs are billowy and lighter in colour. (If using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the eggs over simmering water until they're hot. Remove them from the heat and beat for about 5 minutes or until cold)
Using a rubber spatula, fold half the eggs into the chocolate mixture until almost evenly incorporated
Fold in the remaining eggs, scraping up the mixture from the bottom to ensure that all the heavier chocolate mixture gets incorporated and almost no streaks remain
Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and set it in the larger tin. Place it in the oven and surround it with 1 inch of hot water
Bake for 5 minutes. Cover it loosely with a sheet of buttered foil and bake another 10 minutes. (It will wobble when moved)
Remove the cake tin from the water bath and allow it to cool for about 45 minutes
Cover tightly with cling film and refrigerate until it's very firm - at least 3 hours
Un-mould the cake: Have ready a serving plate that has at least an 8-inch flat centre portion and an 8-inch or large flat loose bottom of a tart tin or plate, covered with greased cling film
Use a torch, hair drier or a hot damp towel to wipe the sides of the tin
Run a thin metal spatula around the sides of the torte and release the sides of the spring-form pan Place the plastic-wrapped plate on top and invert the torte onto it
Heat the bottom of the pan and remove it
Peel off the parchment and flip the torte onto the serving plate
Cut the torte using a thin-bladed knife dipped into hot water between each slice

Notes

It's most moussey and delicious served at room temperature. Accompany with raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries and whipped cream if desired

By Rose Levy Beranbaum

Adapted from The Cake Bible

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Pecan blondies

How could I have got to the age that I am and never tasted a blondie?! To be honest, I’d never even heard of them until fairly recently. From the photos of them that I’ve seen, they look like something I’d really enjoy. That’s why I’ve decided to make a batch of pecan blondies for this week’s Cakes & Bakes.

Blondies are US tray bake rectangles similar to brownies. Where they differ, is that the former contain no cocoa and have brown sugar and vanilla instead. Apparently, from what I’ve discovered online, as well as pecans, they can be made with walnuts, chocolate chips or coconut.

The addition of the aforementioned soft brown sugar gives the blondies an amazing caramel… butterscotch… toffee flavour and smell. Similar to brownies, my pecan blondies were soft and gooey with a slightly crunchy crust around the edges.

They go down a treat with an espresso or mug of strong coffee. Tomorrow, I might try a piece warmed up with ice cream or pouring cream… or both!

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Pecan blondies

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Ingredients

115 g/4oz butter melted
200 g/7oz soft brown sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla paste
150 g/5oz plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
small pinch of salt
50 g/1¾oz pecans chopped + 8 pecan halves

Instructions

Preheat the oven to /175ºC/350°F/Gas mark 4
Line a 20cm2/8-inch2 baking tin with parchment paper
Whisk together the butter, brown sugar in a medium-sized mixing bowl
Whisk in the egg and vanilla
Toss the pecan halves in the flour and set them aside
Sift over the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and fold in using a spatula
Fold in the chopped pecans
Spoon the dough into the prepared tin and level out and into the corners
Lay the floured pecan halves across the top, spaced evenly apart
Bake for 30 minutes until the edges begin to turn brown and come away from the sides of the tin
Remove from the oven and allow the square to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack
Lift the square out of the pan and onto a chopping board or work surface and cut into 8 equal pieces

Tip: Toss the pecan halves in flour to stop them from sinking during baking.

Instead of pecans, you could use walnuts, chocolate chips or dessicated coconut

Keyword blondies, pecans