Nutella Tiramisu

 

It's a little dribbly but it's goooooood.

I didn’t think I liked tiramisu until I was tempted to try some in a little deli in Venice where tiramisu was their specialty. That’ll do it!

It was delicious. I haven’t eaten it since because I figured it would be a let down - how could mine stack up to the professionals?

Well, apparently tiramisu is easy to get right, because I NAILED it on the first go. It’s a really simple recipe that doesn’t use a ton of ingredients (but they are a little niche, it’s not all store-cupboard stuff) and the best part is that it is encouraged to make a day in advance! It’s even better after it is allowed to rest and mingle overnight. Perfect for having company over (a concept I’ve nearly forgotten) or for prepping on a Friday night and enjoying all weekend.

You need a nice deep dish for this, mine was about 20x10cm and I got three layers. I think having two layers is more traditional, so a bigger dish will be needed for that.

Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Loaf

Call me a cliche - isolation baking banana bread

If you’re like me, you might have stocked up on “healthy” foods like bananas, only to look over them for more comforting treats.

I really hate waste, which means I can’t throw out over-ripe fruit. I have to repurpose it into something more delicious – enter, banana bread!

Some very smart person mentioned toasting banana bread and covering it with Nutella and I couldn’t believe I’d never thought of it before. In fact it was such a good idea I just had to make some and try it. And thinking of how well banana bread and Nutella would go together, I wanted to infuse some Nutella flavours into the loaf itself.

Chocolate Hazelnut (Ferrero Rocher!) Birthday Cake

Ooooh this is SUCH A GOOD ONE.

Roll up, roll up for the best chocolate cake you'll ever eat. I have a particular love for chocolate and hazelnut, praline, Nutella, whatever you want to call it, I'll eat it.

It was a friend's birthday recently, and we have very similar taste in cakes (except I LOVE mint chocolate and he HATES it). I knew that this kind of cake would be right up both our alleys and I knew I wanted to whip up something which combined the nutty deliciousness of hazelnut with the sweet smoothness of chocolate. 

Good news - it's easy. Mix dry ingredients. Repeat with wet ingredients. Put them together and bake. So simple for so much deliciousness!

Caramelitas

So, I went home recently and was trying out a few new coffee places. And all of them were serving these flapjack looking caramel chocolate creations. They were called labelled “caramelitas” and I’d never heard of them before. I obviously bought one to try, and then immediately decided that I had to make my own. We’re basically talking a sugary crumble bar with chocolate and caramel filling.

Buuuut the amazing thing about this is that you can make a load of different types based on what you like and what’s in the cupboard. Here, I’ve made the basic chocolatey caramel ones (with coconut!) as well as some nutty ones with hazelnuts and Nutella sprinkled in. I’ve also made them recently with coconut added to the caramel and chocolate, and also spiced ones with Lotus biscuit spread and cinnamon powder.

This recipe makes two full trays of biscuit-y, caramel-y, chocolate-y gooey goodness. Feel free to halve it if you don’t feel like gorging on dozens of these things. You crazy person.

Hazelnut Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Strap yourselves in, because this is a good one!

Brownies are consistently what I turn to when I need to bake something easy and delicious. And there are SO many different flavour combinations that I never get bored making them.

I recently saw a recipe for fudge-topped brownies and it just seemed like such a smart idea that I had to try it my way. I have a fond history with traybakes that use brownies as a base, because I think my mint-topped brownies are probably my favourite bake to eat.

The fudge portion hardens to a silky smooth layer which is just delicious. And obviously I added Nutella, chopped hazelnuts and edible glitter.

Ideally, I wanted the chocolate topping to be white chocolate to give a satisfying colour change, but I totally messed up melting it and it all kind of went to hell. Next time!

Hazelnut Rocky Road

Some people complain about the current heatwave that we are having, but I LOVE it. The only thing that is a little difficult is cooking things in the oven because the kitchen gets slightly sauna-like. So here's a no-bake traybake- a super sweet and nutty rocky road.

You know I can’t help myself adding Nutella and nuts to everything. And traybakes are no exception! Nutella is smooth and creamy and delicious and basically, once I realised that you could sub out some chocolate and butter for a little Nutella, my baking world became a little larger.

These are great little squares, perfect for making with little ones as there's not much heat or cooking involved. I think they make a very cute addition to a party table or are also great for taking into work. 

They're very sweet and a little crunchy and a little chewy and very, very delicious.

Super Chocolatey Choc Chip Hazelnut Cookies

Happy weekend!

In case you didn’t know, I really love to cook. I also really love to bake. A lot of my down time revolves around some aspect of food.

And to that end, I often find myself browsing for new recipes online. In fact, most days I’m probably reading some new recipe that I’ve found.  Sometimes I am looking purposefully for a specific recipe or “how to” technique, but most times I’m just looking for some inspiration. However, in the case of these cookies, I was just messing around on Reddit, when a photo of the most picturesque cookies came on the feed. They were hypnotising. 

I had a batch of (my slightly modified) cookies ready to eat within an hour or so of seeing that post for the first time.

THAT’S HOW GOOD THESE ARE. True story.

Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes

Oh my. Well, it’s January and everyone hates the world because it’s wet and cold and everyone’s attempting to diet.

And along I come with a cheery disposition and an armful of Ferrero Rocher cupcakes! The thing I love about these is that on the surface they look like the most luxurious, nutty chocolatey cupcakes.. And then you take a bite and there is even MORE deliciousness inside. It’s just over the top and vaguely unnecessary, and I love it.

Peek-a-boo!

So, I’ve seen these being bandied around the internet for a while now (interestingly not with recipes, most of them..), and it just felt rude not to make my own. I went with a cupcake mixture that was slightly more akin to a muffin, so that the Rocher wouldn’t sink too much and it would be a slightly firmer cake. Other ways I tried to keep the Rochers as high as possible in the muffin was to dredge in flour before adding, to make them a bit stickier.

For the finish, I just smothered them in a modified version of my chocolate fudge icing and topped the whole lot in a crunchy hazelnut praline.

Decadent, yes,  but utterly delicious. And everything is ok in moderation, so share these around.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Cheesecake

So, I found a recipe for “classic New York cheesecake” and I kind of have a pathological need to change up recipes to include my favourite flavours. And, you may have guessed, but my favourite flavour is Nutella. Without a doubt, every day of the week, I want to make things taste like Nutella. I think that's why I'd be especially terrible at Great British Bake Off - I would just do chocolate and hazelnut EVERYTHING.

So that’s what I did! Sorrynotsorry.

I was really impressed with this recipe, I think it must be the first cheesecake I’ve ever made where the top didn’t crack (SUCCESS!), and I have to imagine that that is due to the lower cooking temperature in the second half of the bake.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any nice photos of the inside of the cake because I took it into work and we demolished it! A good effort.

Nutella No-bake Squares

At a loss for things to do this bank holiday weekend? Make these! I know I'll be baking my way through mine!

The greatest compliment that my cooking can get is when I bring it into work, turn my back, and when I turn back everything has been eaten! This is the power of Nutella. It unites people!

So, everyone’s made the delicious Malteaser squares, and I decided to adjust the flavours a bit of that classic traybake to make a chocolate-hazelnut version.

Simply put: this is everything you think a sugary, chocolatey, crunchy, nutty square would be. Pure treat perfection.

Nutella Porridge

Om nom nom.  I want to eat this all over again

I am first off going to apologise for my hiatus. It was a bit of an accident, I had a terrible chest infection and then jetted off to Italy! Oh my god, the food. The blog will have a distinctly Italian flair soon enough as I recreate some of my favourites.

In the meantime, I’m going through a bit of a porridge phase, and it was a quick leap between making regular porridge and adding a dash of Nutella to it. Also, because of my travels, Nutella has been a large part of my diet recently. In the hotel breakfasts in both Milan and Venice, mini packs of Nutella sat nestled alongside the jam and butter. That is how fundamental it is there. What a world.

There isn’t really anything which Nutella cannot improve. It is the mainstay of the perfect breakfast food: Nutella and pancakes, Nutella and waffles, Nutella straight from the jar with a spoon..

And now, stir it though some porridge while it is cooking, and turn it from a dull oat-a-thon into a bowl of nutty, chocolately, creamy delights. This is one of my absolute favourite breakfasts, so warming and filling and nourishing, it really can’t be beat.

Nutella-Rice Krispie-Marshmallow-Chocolate Traybake

I am terrible at coming up with cute or quirky names for things. I think it comes from the fact that I am not the most imaginative person out there. What is in it is what’s in it. And that’s what it should be called, for clarity. </robot voice>

Now, these little crunchy, chewy, chocolaty bars are just perfect, despite not having a better name. And everyone knows that I love a traybake. Traybakes are probably my favourite thing to make - they are universally delicious and easy to make. Let's face it - normally it is just stirring random ingredients together with chocolate to make it all stick together.

I think because the ingredients are so perfect, that that’s why I can’t think of a better name for it.  Each ingredient addition is better than the last, and each one works with the others to form morsels of pure food gold. A real treat of a recipe, it’s not fancy and it’s not complex, but tastes fantastic and extremely naughty (not diet-friendly, soz). I mean, how else is food held together with a marshmallow glue supposed to taste?

Home-made Nutella

In honour of the late, great Mr Ferrero, I present my home made Nutella! Apparently his grandfather was endlessly tweaking the precursors for the Nutella we all know and love today. And well he did! I am completely obsessed. I rarely buy it because when I buy it, somehow the contents of that magical jar just disappear within a week. I don’t know how that happens.

Of course, the best way to eat it is on pancakes, or on a digestive if you’re feeling filthy. Recently, I have put it in traybakes, cheesecakes and porridge. Nutella porridge is the best thing I’ve eaten in ages, it transforms an otherwise boring bowl.

And now you too can make your own amazing hazelnut chocolate dream spread at home! There’s nothing much to it, the hardest bit is peeling the damn hazelnuts, which I accomplished by roasting then rolling in between two teatowels – this serves to break off the outer skin quite elegantly. I’ve adapted this from a “health food blog” and mainly I’ve tweaked quantities and added sugar. Oh well, what else have you come to expect?

  Makes one small jar

Nutella Cheesecake

Or, supermarket own brand chocolate hazelnut spread cheesecake. Cordon Bleu!

This baked cheesecake is very simple and utterly delicious. And, if you get the swirls done right, impressive-looking too! It's also easy to prepare ahead of time, as it needs to chill in the fridge before serving.

Now, I used to dislike cheesecake. It was a simpler, and less calorific time. Then I went to New York. And, well, do I need to go on? This recipe is very reminiscent of a white and dark chocolate cheesecake I bought in a little deli there (and pretty much ate right then and there on the street) and I'd been looking to recreate it, but with something that made it a bit different. Then I remembered that I would walk through fire for a spoonful of Nutella, and this cheesecake became a reality. 

Now, my favourite part of cheesecake is the biscuit base. So I may have kind of doubled the base relative to the topping. Feel free to half the base ingredients if you do not share my love of crumbly buttery biscuit. You sadist.

Banana, Hazelnut and Nutella Muffins

Do you ever just want to make something really tasty and filling, that is sweet but still flavourful?

Look no further than these muffins. No-one hates Nutella, and the banana and hazelnuts add a real depth of flavour, taking it away from being too cloying and sweet. I did eat one for breakfast. I don’t exactly recommend it, health-wise, but it was great.

I don’t trust muffins which use butter, because they are never quite moist enough. So when making a muffin recipe I am looking for oil/milk/buttermilk instead to get the fat/liquid content needed.

Makes

Hazelnut and Salted Caramel Macaroons

Happy Easter, everyone!

I thought I would change it up a bit on this most foodie of holidays, because I’m kind of full of Easter eggs so I don’t think I could face dealing with even more chocolate (shh, nutella doesn’t count!).

I love these little French morsels, and people genuinely go crazy for them. They look really intricate, but a few simple tips makes them simple to whip up.

1.  Make sure you whip the eggs enough! Those egg whites should be glossy and stiff, and should stay in the bowl, even when tipped upside down.
2.  Allow to dry out before cooking. You should be able to gently press your finger onto one and have it come away clean before you put them in the oven.
3. Allow to cool before removing from the baking tray/mat. They should peel off easily when cooled.

Once you've nailed that, you should be making on point little maracoons with ease. The basic recipe can also be used with a multitude of flavours, in fact, I was planning to make blueberry ones before I realised I was out of blue food dye (food blogger problems).