Nutella Delice for World Nutella Day

This year's humble offering (better late than never) is based on a idea from visiting Pasteleria Kruss in Cartagena. It's about layers. Nutella sponge, creme patisserie, Nutella chocolate ganache and hazelnut buttercream finished with hazelnut praline on top.

Here's an interesting thing - Ferrero use 25% of the world's supply of hazelnuts. There was that time a few years ago when the hazelnut harvest went down due to the frost. A little fluctuation in the price of hazelnuts must cost multi millions. It made the stock of Nutella go down for sure - that's never a good thing!  

If you can't find ground hazelnuts for the sponge you can grind your own in the Vitamix like I did - comes out with a great texture! 

This would ideally be fridged for a few hours to set before slicing. I gave up waiting - it's been a long day, so the creme pat was a bit soft. Patience eh?

Hazelnut sponge

3 Egg whites

150g Icing sugar

3 eggs

150g Ground hazelnuts 

50g Plain flour

25g Unsalted butter

• Whisk the egg whites and 50g icing sugar to stiff peaks. 
• In a separate bowl mix 100g icing sugar and 3 eggs till thick and creamy
• Fold in ground hazelnuts, flour and butter
• Fold the hazelnut flour mix and egg white mix together. 

I forgot and added all the icing sugar to the egg whites, then whisked the whole eggs on their own. Still turned out fine. 

Line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Spread the sponge mix on to the paper lined tray so it is a thin layer. I made 2 baking trays worth.
Bake at 160 oC for about 6 - 8  minutes till just set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.   

Chocolate and Nutella Ganache

50g Plain chocolate

125ml Double cream

75g Nutella

Heat cream and chocolate, then pour over nutella and blend together. 

Vanilla Creme Patisserie

250ml Milk

3 Egg yolks

Vanilla

50g Sugar

1 1/2 tbsp Plain flour

Heat the milk till just off the boil. 

In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks, flour, vanilla and sugar. 

Add a little of the milk to the egg yolk and sugar mix and whisk in.

Return to the pan and allow to thicken, stirring frequently. 

Place a greaseproof cartouche on top of the creme pat to stop a skin forming. Allow to cool. 

Hazelnut Cream

75g Unsalted butter, softened

Vanilla 

150g Icing sugar

50g Nutella

50g Hazelnuts blitzed down to a paste

Cream the softened butter and icing sugar till thick. Fold in the hazelnut paste and Nutella. You may need a little warm water to loosen it. 

Candied hazelnuts - whole/ praline and pulled sugar spikes

The candied hazelnuts really finish this off well.

150g Caster sugar
2 tbsp Water
Hazelnuts

Hard core chefs just use sugar, no water. I like to make life easy and add water.

1. Caramel likes medium heat. Brush around the edges of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water every so often - this stops the sugar crystallising. Caramel doesn't like being stirred - that makes it crystallise too. Sugar needs a bit of respect.
2. When you're at caramel colour drop the hazelnuts in. Make sure they are evenly coated. Keep them moving in the caramel for 1 minute, then take them out with a fork on to a tray with greaseproof paper to cool. 
3. Now take the caramel pan off the heat and dip it in cold water to stop it cooking. Wait till it cools and thickens just enough so it's like the consistency of golden syrup. 
4. Make a clear piece of work surface where you can hang the hazelnuts. Put newspaper or tin foil on the floor below so the caramel drips on to that rather than the floor. Then you can fold it up afterwards and bin it - nice easy clear up. 
5. Stick the hazelnuts onto cocktail sticks, through the side, not the middle or they fall apart. Dip into the caramel and hang over the edge of the work surface using jars, tins or mugs as weights to hold the skewer in place.
6. If it cools down too much you can put the caramel back on the heat, then go back to stage 3. 

Once they are set they are delicate and best left in position until needed.


Layering up

Line a 1 lb/ 500g loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Now have fun layering them up!

Trim the sponge using a ruler so it fits the size of the loaf tin. Divide the hazelnut cream, creme pat and ganache in half. Make 2 layers of each with a layer of sponge in between each. A spoon dipped in hot water is most useful in smoothing the hazelnut cream, creme pat and ganache layers. 

Alternatively, you could consider making it a single layer of each so it's more of a tea cake style thing.  

Cover and refrigerate to help set it before slicing. 

Best served at room temperature. I let it set, then sliced it, then let it come up to room temperature. 

Previous Nutella Day recipes:

Pear and Almond Tart with Nutella Ice Cream

Espresso, Nutella and Hazelnut Brioche Crown

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Afternoon tea wedding in Stanton near Broadway

Four o'clock on the dot was tea time in my great grandmother's house. If you were late woe betide you. The same tradition passed down to the next generation too so there was always tea and cake at four. It was the same at my paternal grandparent's too - work stopped in the garden and workshop for afternoon tea, and if guests happened to be around or it was a larger family gathering savoury things also made an appearance - you can't beat sardines on toast!

Is it that sense of nostalgia for olde england that makes us love afternoon tea so much? Or it could be that it all just tastes so good. It certainly makes for a great wedding breakfast like this one we served last Saturday in Stanton near Broadway. 

Buck's fizz to start anyone?

Afternoon tea sandwiches:
Smoked salmon and watercress
Chicken and apple
Ham with apricot chutney
Cucumber, cream cheese and rocket
Egg and cress - can't beat the classics!

On the savoury side were mini quiche lorraine, butternut squash filo tarts and sausage and sun dried tomato lattice ("Better than Ginsters!" said the waiting staff. Apparently that's good)

Baking coconut macaroons at 11pm

I was addicted to making these as a tween - then shredded coconut was easy to find. Not so easy now - nowhere sells it. Much more succulent that dessicated coconut (dessicated makes them dry). Finally after a hour's trawling I found it at The USA Foodstore - great fast shipping btw thanks.  

Homemade plain & apple and sultana scones with clotted cream and Dove Cottage Hedgerow preserve
White chocolate and blueberry torte
Fruit crème pâtissière tarts
Rose & vanilla cupcakes
Coconut macaroons

White chocolate and blueberry torte - using the dark choc recipe but exchanging dark choc for white

Added to my collection of cake stands a couple of days before from Forgotten Treasures - based in the same village as the wedding was. I love these - rather than the cake stand handles that everyone else uses they have vintage glasses between the layers - much more individual. Each plate has a story behind it. 

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Strawberry and pistachio tart & clementine tart

Another blast from the past. June in fact, when the sun shone (this is a rare enough occurance in our country so is always worth noting).
English strawberries. Creme patisserie filling. You want tart case making tips? Try these. On top of the strawberries a little champagne glaze - champagne set with gelatine. There's no point doing things by half.....
Similar idea with the clementine - creme pat underneath and the segments on top. Although when I got to the house I removed the pistachio 1/2 (couldn't have both tarts with pistachio), sprinkled the top with demerara and glazed with the blow torch.

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Assiette of desserts

Our collection of 5 mini desserts has quickly become popular. I know the kitchens of the various cottages at Upper Court probably better than my own kitchen at home and this latest line-up was served earlier at the Courtyard Cottage for the same guests as last Sunday.

Each time we serve it, it is slightly different depending on what guests choose. This one consisted of:

Mini crème brulee in Japanese spoon
Shotglass of orange sorbet - see recipe here
Glazed lemon tartlets - see physalis tip here
Mini chocolate éclairs - for chocolate topping see here
Raspberry shortbread (with crème patisserie piped in the middle) - for shortbread recipe see here (without the hazelnuts).

Related posts:

Previous assiette desserts we have served
What does 'assiette' mean? Assiette of desserts 12 July 2008

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