Homemade Nutella

Today, I discovered that I could make Nutella.

Okay, so I guess that this isn't new to many of you. Many bloggers out there have been making their own jar of happiness since aeons ago. But for me, it's a revelation. Of how powerful my little food processor can be.

I mean just look at that:

To be honest, I didn't think I could do it. I mean I did try making some ground nut truffles before, but they were still kinda chunky - albeit delicious - so I just drew the conclusion that my processor was no Vitamix or Robocoupe and Nutella would have to come from my nearest Tesco.

Then for some reason this afternoon, I opened the fridge door and felt the bag of ground hazelnuts looking at me. I bought the bag awhile ago with every intention of making macarons. Now, still having the blues of not working anymore, I didn't feel like piping intricate circles on baking sheets or whipping up batches of buttercream (funny how one can miss working, but I do. God, I do. I can't sleep at night now - back to being an insomniac - which sucks because I could have slept brushing my teeth when I came home from work. I miss my friends so badly I actually stalk them on Facebook. Sigh. Send help). I wanted chocolate, and I wanted it in spoonable form. So I made Nutella.

One of my friends doesn't think much of hazelnuts - that was, until I roasted them for him. He said he found them oddly devoid of flavour and preferred snacking on walnuts and almonds and pumpkin nu-I mean, seeds. I stubbornly insisted that they were good (which is odd coming from someone who doesn't like nuts. I don't like nuts. In nut form, that is. I love peanut butter and anything made with nut flours. And if pistachio paste makes me giddy, marzipan just makes me die and go to nut paste heaven.) and toasted a handful and left them on the counter. I came back to find an empty pan.

So I roasted the ground nuts. Then I threw them in my food processor and blended and meticulously scraped down for what felt like hours. I nearly squealed when I saw the nuts smoothing out.. Then releasing their oils.. I think I actually blended it more than necessary, seeing was I was still scraping down and blending after I got hazelnut paste. I blended it even more after adding the sugar and cocoa..

And when I poured it into the jar I wanted to cry, it looked so beautiful.

I need to stash this away in the deepest recesses of my fridge. My sister hoards Nutella - she won't even let me take so much as a sniff when I bring her home a jar. I need to buy two jars when I use it to bake, sometimes three because I want one all to myself. Sheesh. Anyhoo, I made this batch when my mom and sister was away at school so nobody knows. 

It's mine. All mine.

Homemade Nutella

Adapted from Southern Italian Desserts by Rosetta Constantino

150g ground hazelnuts (you can buy them whole, roast them, then grind them yourself but I had some already ground so I just ran with it)

2 tbsp coconut oil, or use any neutral tasting vegetable oil, plus 2 tbsp extra if you want a thinner consistency

63g icing sugar, plus a little more, to taste

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Spread the ground hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until golden and nutty-smelling. My ground hazelnuts were made from untoasted nuts, so I just toasted them already ground. Initially skeptical, I was giddy when it worked.

2. Dump all the ground nuts into a blender or a food processor and blend. It's best to do this while the nuts are still warm, as they release their oils better. Depending on the speed and power of your blender, you may or may not need the oil. I didn't add any at all. Just keep blending and scraping down the sides.. And blending.. And scraping (adding one or two tablespoons of the oil if necessary).. Until the nuts become a smooth paste. It's going to seem like forever (20 minutes-ish) but have faith, it'll happen. Add a little more oil if you have to.

3. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder, blend until mixed in. Blend in the vanilla extract. Taste the mixture to see if you like it sweeter - I did and I added another tablespoon of sugar. The sugar and cocoa will thicken up the mixture quite abit, so add another tablespoon of oil if you want a looser consistency. I didn't add any oil at all because I'm stingy like that and I kinda liked the thick, gloppy paste that stuck to the roof of my mouth. Reminds me of peanut butter.

4. Pour the contents of the blender into a jar and keep in the fridge.