Michelle Darmody: Using versatile hazelnut in cake, biscuits or chocolate spread
Like most nuts, hazelnuts are packed with nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, antioxidant compounds, and healthy fats.
By roasting and blitzing them, you can make a hazelnut butter — this is basically the first step in the chocolate hazelnut spread recipe below.
They are also a good addition to homemade granola, crumbles, salads, or nice just eaten on their own. I did not intend to bake three recipes that included chocolate, but hazelnuts and chocolate are such a good match that I found myself doing it by accident.
One company, Ferrero, buys more than a quarter of all the hazelnuts grown in the world — a huge amount of which come from Turkey. A farmer can tell when the nuts are ripe when the fuzzy outer husk splits open, exposing a hard shell beneath. This shell must then be cracked open to get to the edible nut in the centre. Almost all of the nuts sold in Irish shops are already shelled. And some — blanched nuts — are sold without their outer papery brown skin. A way to remove the skins at home is to spread the nuts onto a baking tray and bake on a medium heat for about 10 minutes. When the skins begin to split and the nuts are starting to turn golden, move them onto a clean tea towel and rub them vigorously. The papery layer should come off in the towel.
It is good to use hazelnuts within about three months of purchasing them; and once the packet is opened it is best to keep them in an airtight container.
200g dark chocolate chips
200g soft butter
125mls brandy — and an optional 100mls to pour over the warm cake
85g plain flour
85g self-raising flour
180g soft brown sugar
180g caster sugar
25g cocoa powder
1/4 tsp bread soda, sieved
75 mls buttermilk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
80g hazelnuts
Preheat your oven to 160C and line a 9in round loose base or spring-form tin with parchment.
Melt the chocolate and butter together and stir in the brandy. Set aside.
Mix the two flours, the sugar, and cocoa powder together and stir this into the chocolate mixture.
Stir the bread soda into the buttermilk and add the eggs. Mix this with the rest of the ingredients.
Scoop the mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle the hazelnuts on top. You can chop them if you wish.
Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin. If you would like to add an extra kick you can pour some more brandy over the cake while it is warm.
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250g blanched hazelnuts
20g cocoa powder
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp butter
Heat your oven to 180 degrees.
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray and place them into the oven. Roast for about 15 minutes, shaking them two or three times.
When cool enough to handle, chop the nuts up quite finely. Scoop the chopped nuts into a blender and blitz until they form a paste. Chopping them beforehand saves you using the blender for too long, and perhaps overheating it. You may need to scrape down the sides a few times as you are blitzing.
Melt the maple syrup and butter over a very low heat and then stir in the cocoa powder. Stir in the hazelnut paste until combined. Scoop into a sterilised jar and store in the fridge. It will last about a week.
100g soft butter
125g soft brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
150g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder, sieved
40g cocoa powder, sieved
100g hazelnuts, chopped
50g dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 170C and line two large flat baking trays with parchment.
Mix the butter and sugar until soft and creamy. Slowly add in the vanilla and eggs until combined.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder and add this mixture to the butter one. Mix them well and add the chopped nuts and chocolate chips.
Spoon 12 large spoons of the mixture onto your baking trays. Leave space for them to spread. Bake for about 12 minutes — they will harden a little more after you take them out. Allow them to cool on the trays.
