Vessy's day » hazelnuts

Nutella cheesecake

Vessy — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 17:58:02 +0000

This beautiful nutella cheesecake is probably one of the easiest recipes ever! With total of 3 ingredients for the filling, no baking and complicated techniques, this cheesecake could be ready and resting in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

The candied hazelnuts on the other hand take more time to prepare, but overall they are not hard to make at all! Detailed instructions for the candied hazelnuts follow the recipe below!

Ingredients for the crust:
230 grams (8 oz) biscuits, finely processed in a food processor
110 grams (4 oz) butter, melted
1 table spoon powder sugar
For the filling:
400 grams (14 oz) nutella
300 grams (11 oz) cream cheese
10 grams gelatine (1 sachet)
25 ml. water
For the candied hazelnuts:
400 grams (14 oz) sugar
1 large table spoon corn syrup
100 ml. water

Grease a non-stick 20 cm (8 inch) cake springform with removable sides.
Mix biscuits (could be chocolate or any other kind you prefer) with butter and powder sugar in a small bowl – the mixture should look like moist sand/crumbs. Transfer to the prepared springform and spread evenly on the bottom of the pan. Use a flat-bottomed glass to press the biscuit mixture over the base of the tin. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

For the filling:
Place 10 grams (1 sachet) of gelatine in a small heatproof bowl with 25 ml. water and let it sit for a few minutes. Place the bowl with the gelatine over a small saucepan with simmering water. Let the gelatine heats until liquid smooth, crystal clear like water, only little yellowish. Set aside.
In a large bowl combine the cream cheese and nutella, beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add the gelatine to the nutella mixture and beat for another minute until gelatine distributes evenly throughout the nutella mixture.

Pour the mixture over the biscuit layer. Put back in the fridge for 6 hours (or overnight) to firm up.

Before serving, gently remove the sides of the cake springform.

NOTE: If you are preparing this cheesecake during the summer, keep in mind that it will have to stay in the fridge at all times, otherwise it will soften too much and loose it’s shape. If you need it to be in shape, out of the fridge, you can simply add more gelatine to make is more stable. I usually try to NOT over use gelatine in recipes, cause it changes the taste and texture of the food, so I keep the quantity of gelatine to a minimum. With the amount of gelatine, said here (10 grams) you can make a perfectly shaped cheesecake, without having the jelly texture, but it has to be kept in a cold place in order to keep it’s shape.

To make the candied hazelnuts: Candied hazelnuts may seem hard to make, but they are pretty easy actually.

The hardest part of making candied hazelnuts it to prepare the caramel. There are many recipes on the web for candied hazelnuts, using different proportions of sugar and water. Over the time, I found that these proportions of water and sugar, plus a little bit of corn syrup work best for me.

So, before you head to the caramel you need to prepare the hazelnuts first. Gently insert a long wooden skewer into each hazelnut, by gently twisting the tip in. Some hazelnuts may brake, but you can store them and use in another recipe.

I used raw hazelnuts, and personally don’t think it’s necessary to roast the hazelnuts in advance. They will be covered in thick layer of caramel, which will pretty much overpower the flavor of the hazelnuts.

Make sure to prepare double the quantity of hazelnuts you will need in the recipe – once covered in caramel they will be very fragile and some of them may break, so just to be sure you have enough you will have to prepare more!

Once you have all hazelnuts ready, prepare a heavy wooden board or something else, which will keep hazelnut skewers steady while cooling. Place the cutting board along the edge of your counter-top and place a big piece of parchment paper on the floor under the cutting board, which will catch the drippings.

Once you have all set up, continue with the caramel.

In a small heavy saucepan heat sugar, water and corn syrup over high heat, stirring occasionally. Once sugar dissolves and syrup starts simmering, turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook, without stirring, until the caramel starts to thickens and darkens. Cook until the caramel reaches the desired color. Keep in mind that once the caramel starts to darken, you will have to watch it closely, because it could burn very easy and quick.

Once caramel is dark amber color (as I prefer it), remove from heat and immediately put the saucepan in a cold bath – I use my sink, filled with a little bit of cold water. This will stop the cooking process – a very important step, because otherwise, caramel will continue to cook, even if it’s not on the stove and will burn.

Let the caramel sit in the cold bath for about 5-10 minutes. During this time it will thicken a bit and will continue to thicken while it sits. Don’t wait long before you dip a hazelnut in and then immediately slip the skewer under your cutting board. Observe the caramel dripping and if a good thick strand is forming then your caramel is ready. If the strand is too thin then you will have to wait for another few minutes before dipping the rest of the hazelnuts.

In case your caramel hardens too quickly, before you are able to dip all hazelnuts, then reheat it on low heat, just enough to get thinner, no need to bring it to boil again. Feel free to reheat your caramel as many times as you wish, I have made big batches of candied hazelnuts with at least 5-6 times of reheating the caramel.

Let candied hazelnuts cool and caramel hardens completely, then use scissors to cut the strands into the desired length.

Store candied hazelnuts in a dry, dark place (don’t put in the fridge, they will melt in from the humidity).

Voila!

Hazelnut chocolate muffins

Vessy — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 15:01:53 +0000

Chocolate and hazelnuts – may be two of the best things in food, cooked together in these small, super delicious cupcakes. No one could resist to these cupcakes. The recipe is super easy and quick, but they will disappear from the pan even quicker.

Ingredients:
100 grams (3,5 oz) dark chocolate
200 ml. water
1 table spoon hazelnut syrup (here is my recipe for homemade hazelnut syrup)
100 grams (3,5 oz) butter
250 grams (9 oz) brown sugar
3 medium eggs
40 grams (1,40 oz) cocoa powder
120 grams (4 oz) flour
1/2 tea spoon baking powder
50 grams (1,80 oz) hazelnut meal
Recipe for the chocolate frosting.

Preheat your oven to 170 C fan-forced (340 F). Line your muffin pan with paper cups (12).

In a small saucepan heat the chocolate, hazelnut syrup and water. Stir until the chocolate melts and mixture is nice and smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl beat the butter with sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one and beat just until combined. Add the chocolate mixture to the butter-egg mixture and stir with a rubber spatula.

Add the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and hazelnut meal and mix gently with a rubber spatula just until combined.

Pour the mixture in your muffin pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Let the cakes cool before serving.

To prepare the chocolate frosting use this recipe, but substitute the coconut liquor with hazelnut syrup.

Chocolate, chocolate cookies

Vessy — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 14:57:54 +0000

Dear friends,
First of all I would like to wish you all happy new year! May this year is full of joy, prosperity, health and many delicious meals.
I know I haven’t been around lately, actually I haven’t been blogging for a couple of weeks now. I have been pretty busy with all kinds of personal and work stuff. I am also working on the translation in Bulgarian of all of my recipes, which takes up most of my free time. It has not been fair to my Bulgarian readers, to have only the English language. So, hopefully, soon I will be able to add the Bulgarian version of my website .
So, in my first post for this year, I would like to share with you an old, old recipe, which I have prepared a couple of times already, and it’s safe to say that every time these cookies get better. I have to warn you, they are dangerously addictive.

I would like to thank Irina, from Sunshine’s Kitchen for the recipe!
So enough talks… here is the recipe

Ingredients:
330 grams (12 oz) all purpose flour
1/2 tea spoon salt
250 grams (9 oz) butter
300 grams (10.5 oz) brown sugar
1 tea spoon baking powder
2 eggs
100 (3.5 oz) grams cocoa powder
1 tea spoon pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl mix the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa.
Beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, followed by the vanilla extract. Mix well. Add the flour mixture, part by part. The batter will get thicker and thicker, so it is easier to use the dough attachment of your mixer or knead it with your hands.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in your fridge for an hour.

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and place the rack in the center of the oven.
Take half of the dough, and the rest leave in the fridge.
Roll the dough – 1 sm. thick and cut it in the desired shapes. Place them on your baking dish (covered with baking sheet), as you leave some space between each cookie cause they will expand from the heat.
Bake for 7-8 minutes. Make sure not to over bake, because otherwise your cookies will become crunchy and will break easy. If baked appropriately your cookies will become thick and soft.
Repeat the same with the rest of the dough.

If you want to cover the cookies with some nuts or chocolate chips, just make sure to do it right after they are out of the oven and still warm. Press each piece of nut or chocolate chip gently on top of each cookie.
You can cover with chocolate or icing, the decorations are all up to you.
Tip: If you decide to cover with chocolate, make sure the cookies are completely cooled.