Gianduja at home

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Permalink Reply by Lane Wigley on October 20, 2012 at 9:37am

such as: when to add the hazelnuts, anything different about tempering, molding, etc

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on October 20, 2012 at 10:01am

Basically just thoroughly mix the melted chocolate with the hazelnut paste.  I've seen some makers in Italy refine/conche them together and others just mix.  Personally I just mix well with a stick blender.  

Here's a shot of our cremini, as you can see the gianduja is nice and smooth.  Any roughness visible in this pic is from the cutting.

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Permalink Reply by Gap on October 20, 2012 at 5:13pm

cheebs - do you caramelise the hazelnuts first and then grind them down for your gianduja?

 

Lane - a gianduja is usually tempered at a lower temp . . . 27C is what I normally use.

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Permalink Reply by Lane Wigley on October 20, 2012 at 8:04pm

I'm assuming that if I put the hazelnuts through a food processor first the Santha should be able to take it from there. I wouldn't think I'd need to buy paste. Make sense?

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on October 21, 2012 at 9:47am

It does and that will work perfectly.  It only takes a few hours to get the paste super-fine.  Remember to de-hull the nuts!

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Permalink Reply by Lane Wigley on October 21, 2012 at 5:09pm

What's the best way to de-hull?

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on October 22, 2012 at 9:45am

Either a large colander or a wet cloth... Rub the hazelnuts against the screen of the colander or put them in the wet cloth, fold over itself and rub.

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on October 21, 2012 at 9:46am

Gap... I only roast the hazelnuts... if caramelized I would then be making praliné (which I actually do make by caramelizing, running through the Champion with the blocking plate in and finishing for a half hour or so in the Santha)

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Permalink Reply by Gap on October 21, 2012 at 4:51pm

Thanks cheebs - that's what I was curious about. When I've "made" a gianduja for chocolate work, I've done so by mixing hazelnut praline paste and chocolate. I was wondering if the grinders could take the nuts/caramelised sugar without any problems, but it sounds like they can if I pre-grind.

 

Cheers

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Permalink Reply by Felipe Jaramillo F. on October 22, 2012 at 4:06pm

Gianduja is one of my favorite topics :) It comes out great from the grinder after a few hours. We did pre-grind in the food processor to make it easier. 

The real pain is to quickly de-hull the hazelnuts. The rubbing on a wet cloth method works fine, but there are a few nuts which don't release their hull, it gets really hot and is time consuming. 

Any alternatives for a better process? Any equivalent to the small scale winnowers we use for cacao?

The second major issue is sourcing quality hazelnuts consistently and making sure they are not rancid when you buy them. Treat yourself to the 35 part Gianduja series from Dallas Food Org. 

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Permalink Reply by Patti Humbert on October 22, 2012 at 5:23pm

To remove the hazelnut skins more easily:

1. In a medium saucepan with high sides, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add 3 tablespoons of baking soda to the water – the water will foam up.

2. Add 1 cup hazelnuts to the boiling water and boil for about 3 minutes. The water will turn black – don’t be alarmed. While the hazelnuts are boiling, prepare a medium bowl of ice cold water. After three minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove one test nut, placing the nut into the prepared bowl of ice water. Use your fingers to remove the skin, if the skin doesn’t come off easily, boil the nuts 1-2 minutes longer and try another test nut.

3. When a test skin rubs right off, add the rest of the nuts to the ice water and peel them with ease.

4. Place peeled nuts into a kitchen towel or paper towels and dry them thoroughly.

5. If desired, toast the peeled and dried hazelnuts at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes - trust me it's so worth it!

Method from Alice Medrich

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Permalink Reply by Lane Wigley on October 22, 2012 at 5:43pm

I forgot to ask, what's a reasonable range of chocolate to nuts? Can I do it without any milk powder or should I do at least a bit?

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