Homemade hazelnut cream

Delicious homemade hazelnut cream! Yes, it has exactly the same irresistible flavour you know from Kinder Bueno bars. It is so addictive that it is almost impossible to stop eating it straight from the jar – which is why I only managed to photograph half of the batch… Immediately after making it, the hazelnut cream is quite runny, but as the white chocolate sets, it becomes spreadable and eventually quite firm. If it sets too much, simply warm it briefly in the microwave and stir until spreadable again. 

The colour of the cream will depend on how deeply you roast the hazelnuts. The more heavily roasted they are, the darker the cream will be. Hazelnuts that have not been roasted would produce a very pale cream, but roasting them gives the cream a much better flavour.

Ingredients for the hazelnut cream:

• 150 g hazelnuts
• 250 g white chocolate
• a pinch of salt
• 15 ml neutral oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan or in the oven at 180°C, stirring occasionally. Remove the brown skins – the easiest way is to wrap the warm hazelnuts in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and rub them between your hands. The skins would give the cream a bitter flavour. Leave the hazelnuts to cool completely.

Place the roasted hazelnuts in a food processor. Process until they turn into a smooth, runny paste with no lumps (this took me approximately 8 minutes of continuous processing). The hazelnuts will first become finely ground, then turn into nut butter, and after several more minutes of processing they will become a relatively smooth and oily liquid. The exact time will depend on your food processor.

Melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie or in the microwave. Pour the still-warm melted chocolate into the hazelnut paste and add all the remaining ingredients. Blend until completely smooth. Transfer to jars and leave at room temperature to set.

Enjoy!

Recipe source: graham-blackall.squarespace.com.