Feb 1, 2010

HOMEMADE NUTELLA

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So, I am having fun lately making homemade versions of "supermarket food", such as the Digestive biscuits last time, and now: Nutella! I had been seeing many recipes floating around the blogosphere on how to make the infamous hazelnut spread from scratch and decided it was about time to give it a try.

Because I tend to have a nerd-y attitude when it comes to food, I like to research before taking action. What I noticed was that each "homemade Nutella recipe" called for some common ingredients but also for differing ones: some had butter, others had powdered milk, some used cocoa, some used chocolate instead, so on and so forth. With all these variations, I decided I'd have to figure it out on my own. I studied a Nutella label and tried to use some common sense. As long I wasn't using any palm oil in my recipe (yes, the evil palm oil).

At the end of the day, it all came down to three ingredients for a jar of heaven...

1- you will need hazelnut spread. Pure hazelnut spread, no sugar added. I found mine at Biocoop. You could also find this at Wholefoods or the sorts for those living in the US, UK, etc. 
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It's like tahini- but hazelnuts instead of sesame!
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2- and you will need unsweetened condensed milk.
Note that unsweetened condensed and evaporated are interchangeable- but cannot be substituted with sweetened condensed milk which has a much thicker consistency. 
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3- finally, have some chocolate nearby. I made two versions- one with regular chocolate, and the other experimenting around with a caramel flavour, which gave a nice twist! As long as it's baking chocolate- so if you do go with a flavour twist, chocolates stuffed with oozing caramel or jelly fillings will not work.
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And look what we have here...a to-die-for-hazelnut spread. 
Decadent, rich nutty chocolatey goodness that you'd have to hide in a password protected safebox! 
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Now for the decisive moment- eat straight out of the jar, spread on fresh baguette, on a crepe...
...or eat straight out of the jar?
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Recipe for Homemade Nutella (recommend to also read Notes below):

100gr good quality 50-70% chocolate, chopped
100gr pure hazelnut spread- no sugar added. 
200gr unsweetened condensed milk

Heat unsweetened condensed milk in a pot- just heat it but do not let it boil. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Cover pot with a lid for 5 mins. Remove lid and swirl until smooth consistency is obtained and let cool. Then transfer this to a mixer and add the hazelnut spread- mix until perfectly smooth. Empty into a dry and clean jar and enjoy! 

Notes:
Of course, if you wish you can add sugar. The above version produces a not-too-sweet result, but I think next time I would want to add 50 to 80gr sugar. Preferably icing (confectioner) sugar to ensure finest/smoothest texture.

Also- the next day I noticed a white grainy texture which turned out to be the condensed milk that somehow solidified in the process. Nothing to panic about, simply use a mixer/blender and puree it once again until smooth. After that, the white grains should not reappear- at least it did not in my case.

I'm no expert on expiry dates, but I'm guessing this should store well for a good 10 days...considering that chocolate, hazelnut paste and condensed milk as individual ingredients don't call for refridgeration and usually have lengthy expiry dates. I would also recommend that once ready, do not store in the fridge- unless you live in a country where it's very hot.

Finally- have fun experimenting: use different chocolate flavours, substitute with almond or walnut paste if you wish, add some liquor, and for a bit of crunch try some chocolate chips or chopped nuts!

13 comments:

Akila said...

Wow, wow, wow! I absolutely love nutella and am so amazed that you made it yourself. When I get back home and to a kitchen, I am going to try this.

SeaBird said...

I actually just bought some Nutella at the store, but once it's out, I'm going to try this version - yum!

B & D said...

wow!! did u just gave us the recipe for homemade nutella... :) love it!! gona definately try it but i dont think we have Nestlé caramel chocolate here :(

Carolyn Jung said...

I'm guessing this is less sweet than store-bought Nutella? If so, I welcome that. I LOVE Nutella, but sometimes I wish it had a more bitter chocolate edge.

VegeCooking Club said...

I love Nutella and this looks amazing!

Anonymous said...

curious about storage... condensed milk usually has a long expiry date, but that's because it's canned. once you open it, it won't last very long without refrigeration.

looks delicious though!

Nina Timm said...

Wow, you might open your front door soon to find the Nutella boss on your doorstep. Looks like you're going to put them out of business!!!

Jenn said...

A local bakery makes a fabulous homemade version of Nutella, but at $10 a jar! Thanks for the recipe...can't wait to try it!

Marc @ NoRecipes said...

Hi Marianna, I'm a blogger for ReadyMade magazine and would love to highlight your post on our blog. Can you please email me?

Molly said...

I'm swearing off your blog after this one(not really). First Naan and now Nutella?? I'm going to get fat(ter) if I keep coming here!!LOL

Molly(new here)

Sarah said...

Wow wow wow. Got to try this. I'm sure there must be hazelnut paste somewhere in London.

Arlette said...

Marianna
THis is a very interesting posting, I wish I came here before I did my buns, I made my buns with oranges and store bought Nutela and Hazelnut as stuffing, I have to try your recipe and compare the taste... Emmm you get me thinking girl.. thanks so much for sharing.

Anonymous said...

This is fabulous. I made it with whole hazelnuts, 70% dark chocolate and evaporated milk. I ground the hazelnuts in a VitaMix, added the warm milk and chocolate mixture and ground it again into smithereens.

Delicous.