I started this posts yesterday but my body had very different ideas on what I was going to be doing. I quickly came down with some weird 24 hour stomach/intestine issue. Let me tell you, it was terrrrrrrible. About every 20 minutes I had 3-5 minutes of horrific sharp pain in my intestines. It wasn’t so much nausea as lots and lots of pain. And a headache from not eating, but if I ate it made the pain worse. Go figure.
Anyway, moving on to what this post is actually about. Homemade Nutella. I’ve had this recipe tagged from Phe/MOM/enon since last November and I’ve given it to at least four other people before I decided to stop being lazy and make it. I think I was looking for those jars she uses on her post. Yeah…that’s totally it.
The major issue I have is removing the skin. I can never seem to roast them correctly to get the skins to pop off. It too me forever to skin them for the hazelnut gelato I made last summer. I’ll give you a minute to mock the picture. I mock the pictures pre-December of last year. Oh, how I love my dSLR.
A little snooping around on the internet lead to me to a thread on Chowhound. If you quickly boil hazelnuts in a water/baking soda solution the skins just pop off. Here’s the formula:
1/2 cup raw hazelnuts
1 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Bring the water to a boil in a pot large enough for the water and the hazelnuts. Once the water has come to a boil, add the baking soda. Be careful – it’ll viciously bubble. If it bubbles over, don’t worry it makes a wonderful cleaner. Add the hazelnuts, and cook for three minutes. Drain the hazelnuts and rub the hazelnuts between two towels. The skins will just pop off. Then roast the nuts at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
You can also scale this formula up :). I did it with 3 cups of hazelnuts :).
After you roast the hazelnuts, you can continue with the nutella recipe. You add two tablespoons canola oil to the mixture and it wasn’t until I added the two tablespoons that I looked over to my left and saw my hazelnut oil. DOH. Oh well, I have two more cups of hazelnuts left and I have some more milk chocolate. I’ll just have to make it again. Oh woe is me. And my jeans.
I have to admit that I haven’t had nutella in very, very long time. So if nutella tastes like milk chocolate with hazelnuts well then this tastes like nutella. The hazelnut taste was mild and I like hazelnuts so I’m hoping by swapping out the canola oil for hazelnut oil it up the hazelnut factor.
How many times can you use the word “hazelnut” in a sentence? I think I should be in the record books.
Oooo! What if you swapped out the canola oil for some good olive oil? Any thoughts?
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Holly, Rene Rodgers. Rene Rodgers said: Homemade Nutella via @PheMOM! http://epicbaker.com/2010/06/homemade-nutella/ [...]
Guess what? My mom is sick too with stomach/intestine problems. We were supposed to leave tonight to drive down to Mexico at my husband’s family’s beach house but we canceled because she’s sick. Anyway, can you send me a jar of this fabulous spread? ;) Hope you feel better.
P.S. Like I told you, I have to try the boiling trick next time I use hazelnuts.
Oh no! I hope your mom feels better soon! I feel about 99% better today. I swear I’m Queen of 24 hour bugs. I’m sorry you had to cancel your trip, that’s a total bummer.
If you want a jar, I’m sure we can figure something out ;). Hehe.
thanks for sharing this recipe!! I’m sure homemade is much better than the commercial brand!
I hope you are feeling better!!
cheers
I haven’t had the commercial brand in aaaages, but I hope so! I think it would be even better with hazelnut oil.
I am! Thank you very much!
Great tip on how to remove those skins!