Gianduia Hearts Recipes

ITALIAN GIANDUIA LOAF WITH CUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Line 5 1/2- to 6-cup metal loaf pan with plastic wrap, overlapping sides. Melt chocolate and butter with corn syrup in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Cool to lukewarm, whisking occasionally.
• Whisk 1/4 cup cream, 4 tablespoons Frangelico, yolks, sugar and 2 tablespoons water in small metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly until candy thermometer registers 160°F., about 3 minutes. Remove from over water. Add yolk mixture and remaining 2 tablespoons Frangelico to chocolate mixture in pan; whisk until smooth. Mix in nuts. Chill until cool, about 10 minutes. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 1/4 cup cream with sour cream in large bowl to stiff peaks. Add chocolate mixture and fold together. Pour filling into prepared pan; smooth top. Cover and chill overnight.
• Combine all ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted. Cool to lukewarm. Pour 1/2 cup glaze over filling in pan; shake pan gently to smooth top. Freeze until glaze sets, about 20 minutes.
• Line cookie sheet with foil. Lift loaf from pan. Turn loaf out onto foil; peel off plastic. Whisk remaining glaze over low heat until just spreadable. Pour all but 1/4 cup glaze over loaf. Spread over top and sides with icing spatula, spreading glaze that runs onto foil up sides of loaf to cover completely. Chill 1 hour. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and chill loaf and reserved 1/4 cup glaze separately.)
• Bring half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Whisk yolks and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in hot half and half mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes; do not boil. Strain into bowl. Mix in cream and Frangelico. Cover and chill until cold. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead.)
• Melt milk chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth. Spoon all but 2 tablespoons melted chocolate into parchment cone. Remove loaf from foil and transfer to platter. Pipe chocolate lines crosswise atop loaf, spacing 1/8 inch apart. Dip 1 hazelnut halfway into chocolate in pan; place atop center of loaf. Repeat with remaining nuts, spacing evenly and forming line down center. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead; refrigerate.)
• Using long thin knife, cut loaf into 1/2-inch-thick slices, wiping knife clean between cuts. Place slices on plate; surround with sauce. Whisk reserved glaze over low heat until melted. Spoon into parchment cone. Pipe Zs atop sauce.

GIANDUIA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the hazelnuts out on small baking sheet or in an ovenproof skillet and toast them in the oven until they are a deep toasty brown, about 15 minutes. Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and set aside to cool completely.Melt the chocolate in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pot of simmering water over medium-low heat, stirring often.If serving the Gianduia immediately, place your bread in a 350 degrees F oven for 12 minutes.
• Grind the hazelnuts with the sugar in a food processor to a fairly smooth, buttery paste.
• Once the chocolate is completely melted, remove it from the heat and whisk in the cream and butter. Stir in the ground hazelnuts. The gianduia will thicken and become soft and peanut butter-like as it cools. Pour the mixture into small jars, or store in a container with a tight-fitting lid.
• Serve the gianduia with rustic slices of buttered toast.

GIANDUIA HEARTS

Steps:

• Toast and skin hazelnuts. In a food processor pulse hazelnuts with sugar until finely ground. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together flour, hazelnut mixture, and a pinch salt until combined well. Cut butter into small pieces and at a low speed beat into flour mixture until mixture just forms a dough. Turn dough out onto a work surface and gather into a ball.
• Halve dough and roll out each half between sheets of wax paper into a 13-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Remove top sheet of wax paper from each round and with a 2-inch heart-shaped cutter cut out hearts, leaving all of dough on wax paper. (Do not remove any cut-outs from dough; keep hearts intact on wax paper. Replace top sheet of wax paper and stack dough on baking sheet. Chill dough until firm, at least 15 minutes, and up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 350° F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• With a metal spatula lift hearts from wax paper and arrange about 1 inch apart on lined baking sheets. Reroll scraps and make and chill more hearts in same manner.
• Bake hearts in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 12 minutes total. Transfer hearts to racks to cool completely. Cookies may be made up to this point 3 days ahead and kept in airtight containers at room temperature.
• Chop chocolates into small pieces and in a bowl combine with hazelnut butter. In a small saucepan bring cream to a simmer and immediately remove pan from heat. Stir hot cream into chocolate mixture until filling is smooth. Chill filling until slightly firm, about 15 minutes. On a work surface arrange half of hearts bottom sides up. Spread about 1 tablespoon filling on each, covering surface evenly, and top with remaining hearts, bottom sides down. Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container and chilled, 1 day.
• Or available for purchase from Dundee Orchards, P.O. Box 327, Dundee, OR 97115, (503) 538-8105