Homemade isn’t always best: my attempt at making Nutella
3.4.2024
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
I spent a whole morning trying to make a Nutella alternative. What remained was frustration, a messy kitchen and a blob of overly sweet chocolate.
In the run-up to Christmas, my mother gave me a bag of ground hazelnuts for baking cinnamon stars. Christmas has been and gone and I haven’t made a single one. Instead, I’m sitting on two kilos of ground hazelnuts. I’m this close to throwing the whole lot into the compost, but don’t have the heart. I despise food waste.
But what I’ve learned to despise even more is this nut and chocolate «Tiroler» cake by Swiss cookbook publisher Betty Bossi. To get through the nuts I received, I’ve been baking the cake for every conceivable occasion. Last time we had coffee and («Tiroler») cake, someone suggested I make Nutella out of the nuts. A homemade, palm-free alternative? Sounds great! Well, that’s what I thought.
Source: Stefanie Lechthaler
This Nutella recipe (in German) is pretty straightforward. Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix. The result should be a smooth chocolate cream. I give it a go.
Effing and blending
First up, I melt the chocolate. I opted for Lindt’s classic milk chocolate. While the chocolate’s slowly melting away in a bain-marie, I get to work on the hazelnut cream. The original recipe calls for whole nuts. Oh well, I’ll just use the ground ones instead. To get rid of as much as possible, I use double the amount. What a bright little spark I am, I tell myself. But my blender doesn’t think much of my idea. Instead of turning the nuts into a paste, it starts to screech. Fortunately, I also have a hand mixer at home. It’s the first time I’m using the chopping container’s. Ta-dah! The hazelnut cream’s ready.
Vanilla time
Next, I add icing sugar, cocoa powder, colza oil, a generous dash of vanilla extract and the melted chocolate to the hazelnut cream and blend. The result? A beautiful, delicious-smelling, shiny chocolate cream – my first homemade Nutella. It’s just how I’d imagined it. Time for the big tasting. I dip a spoon into the creamy goodness and try. What a letdown! Although I reduced what seemed like an outrageously large amount of sugar by half, the spread’s still far too sweet for my taste and the consistency simply too grainy. Contrary to my expectations, I should also have skimped on the vanilla extract, as it overpowers the chocolate flavour.
Source: Stefanie Lechthaler
Homemade not always tastier
My verdict’s clear. The taste of my chocolate spread doesn’t even come close to Nutella. But maybe it doesn’t have to. With a few tweaks to the recipe and a little practice, the homemade spread could turn out great. But I don’t have the patience for it. Instead, I’ll play it safe and stick to making my «Tiroler» cake. The truth is that the cake’s pretty tasty and there are plenty of good palm oil-free Nutella alternatives out there already.
Header image: Stefanie Lechthaler
Painting the walls just before handing over the flat? Making your own kimchi? Soldering a broken raclette oven? There's nothing you can't do yourself. Well, perhaps sometimes, but I'll definitely give it a try.
Cooking
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest
Food
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest
11 comments
later