Gianduja, pronounced jen-DO-yah, is what I like to call the OG version of Nutella. And it’s quite amazing.
Gianduja comes from Torino, Italy, where they grow some of the world’s best hazelnuts. They combine their hazelnuts with some of Piedmont, Italy’s famous milk chocolate, and you have a chocolate hazelnut paste that can (and should) but spread on almost anything.
There’s no theme or under lying reason I decided to make this, this week. Just simply flipped through one of my favorite ice cream cookbooks, The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, and found a recipe that got me drooling.
We haven’t made a gelato in quite some time so let’s review what the key differences are that separate gelato from regular ice cream!
1. OVERRUN RATE! – This is the amount of air that get whipped into your ice cream! Less air = thicker, creamier, higher quality product. Gelato has a much lower overrun rate than ice cream, meaning there’s less air whipped in!
2. FAT! – Fat is our friend when it comes to the creaminess and lingering flavors of ice cream! The higher the fat content the more luxurious our scoops are! Gelato typically has higher fat contents than ice cream!
Recipe from David Lebovitz’s, The Perfect Scoop
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups (185 g) hazelnuts, toasted
- 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
- 2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
- 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 4 ounces (115 g) milk chocolate, finely chopped
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Toasting Nuts: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Spread the nuts in an even layer on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake the nuts in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring them once or twice while baking so they toast evenly. To see if they’re done, snap one in half: it should be lightly golden brown throughout.
- Let the nuts cool completely before using unless the recipe indicates otherwise.
- 1. Rub the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel to remove as much of the papery skins as possible, then finely chop them in a food processor or blender.
- 2. Warm the milk with 1 cup (250 mI) of the cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
- 3. Once warm, remove from the heat and add the chopped hazelnuts. Cover and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
- 4. Put the milk chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat the remaining 1 cup (250 ml) cream in a medium saucepan until it just begins to boil. Pour it over the milk chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set a mesh strainer over the top.
- 5. Pour the hazelnut-infused milk through a strainer into a medium saucepan, squeezing the nuts firmly with your hands to extract as much of the flavorful liquid as possible. Discard the hazelnuts.
- 6. Rewarm the hazelnut-infused mixture. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm hazelnut mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
- 7. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the milk chocolate mixture. Add the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.
- 8.Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
