Ah….Nutella. The rich and creamy chocolate-hazelnut spread that everyone in Italy knows and loves, has quickly grown in popularity in the United States as well. Whether spread on a piece of crisp toast in the morning, sitting atop an ice cream cone in the form of a flavorful gelato, or a finishing touch on a plate of thin, sweet crepes for brunch on the weekend, Nutella is as addictive as it is heavenly.
As popular in Italy as peanut butter is in the United States, Nutella is a fun flavor to experiment with in various types of desserts. I’ve seen it swirled into homemade cheesecake, used as a fondue base for mixed fruit and cubes of pound cake, and even spread atop a piece of chocolate cake doubling as a frosting. My favorite way to enjoy Nutella is in the form of a filling for adorable Individual Nutella Tarts. A sweet, shortbread crust filled with a homemade version of Nutella, topped with a plump, ripe strawberry and a sprinkling of pine nuts or walnuts. For this recipe, feel free to use a traditional jar of Nutella, or try making Chef Biagio Longo’s recipe yourself; it is simply melted dark and milk chocolate, ground hazelnuts and sugar, melted butter, and a touch of milk. These tiny tarts are sure to be the hit of your next dinner party.
(To view the recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Individual Nutella Tarts
Ingredients:
- For the sweet, shortbread crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour individual, 3-inch cake pans. Ingredients needed: 250g butter, softened, 150g sugar, ½ kilo flour, 2 eggs, 1 pinch of baking powder. Cream butter and sugar together; add eggs and rest of ingredients and mix into a ball. Roll out into a large circle about ¼-inch thick; perforate the crust with a fork. Using a biscuit cutter, cut enough small circle to fit into your prepared cake pans. Once you fit the dough into your prepared pans, bake them in a preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until they are lightly browned.
- For Chef Longo’s homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread: Mix 300 grams of melted milk chocolate together with 100 grams melted dark chocolate in a large bowl. In a food processor, grind 300 g of toasted hazelnuts together with 300 grams sugar until the nuts have a flour-like consistency. Melt 100 grams of unsalted butter and warm 60 grams warm milk. Combine all of these ingredients together with spatula in a large bowl. Pipe into your baked individual tart crusts. Top with a small strawberry and a sprinkling of either pine nuts or walnuts (or both.)
Directions:
Tagged: chocolate, chocolate-hazelnut spread, culinary school, dessert, externship, hazelnut, Italy, Mami Camilla cooking school, Nutella, Sorrento, tarts
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