In the last year or so, I have definitely found my love for hazelnuts. Seriously, where have those been all my life? Of course, to optimize hazelnuts, there must be chocolate. When I found the recipe for this gianduja (apparently means Nutella) mousse in Food & Wine magazine, it called to me to make it as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, “as soon as possible” was much longer than I had anticipated, because creme fraiche is nowhere to be found in my town. I could find it many miles away, but with the heat we’ve had I didn’t see it making it back home. Then, finally, when I wasn’t even looking for it, I found it somewhat locally and immediately tossed it into my cart.
The trouble I went through to find that one ingredient was the toughest part of this recipe. It’s quite the simple dessert to whip up. And it tastes so, so good.
The original recipe suggests serving it with chocolate wafer cookies. We had ours with hazelnut piroulline cookies. In addition, as the magazine suggested, we spread some of the mousse on a chocolate wafer cookie, and then topped that with another cookie. After a while in the freezer, we had our own little ice cream sandwiches. However you decide to serve this decadent dessert, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
November 4th, 2007 at 8:44 am
I love the subtle tartness that creme fraiche provides a dish.
You’ll be able to find it easily once you get the heck out of ole Miss’ippi.
November 4th, 2007 at 8:46 am
Jennifer, creme fraiche is a breeze to make. Take 1 cup good heavy cream that has not been ultra-pasteurized, put it in a jar that has a tight-fitting lid, stir in a couple of tablespoons of sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt, and let it sit, on the counter, for 24 hours. Then refrigerate.
I can’t wait to try this “nutella”.
November 4th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
hazelnut and chocolate are a natural pair. I can’t wait to try this recipe out, except I have to hunt for creme fraiche first.
(Or as Vanessa suggested, make my own.)
November 4th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
That look absolutely decadent! Creme fraiche is hard to find, but I think you can usually substitute it for sour cream even though the taste is not exactly the same. Great recipe!
November 4th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Thanks, everyone, for the compliments!
Thanks for the tip, Vanessa. I actually looked into making my own, but I really wanted to try it with “the real stuff” first. I’ll definitely give it a shot next time, though!
November 5th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Wow. I love the idea of the frozen sandwiches!
November 6th, 2007 at 8:17 am
I love hazelnuts, too. I can recommend the following recipe for baci (means kisses in Italian): http://kochtopf.twoday.net/stories/3209815/
It’s just delicious and easy to make.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
I made this the other day, it’s deadly! Served it in little filo cups. Great recipe! Used Cognac because I didn’t have what it called for.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Your new site lets me leave comments! Great!
November 19th, 2007 at 4:03 am
Oh wow! This looks utterly amazing. If only I wasn’t dieting….
December 1st, 2007 at 8:55 pm
This looks a lot like a recipe from The Whimsical Bakehouse: Fun-to-Make Cakes That Taste as Good as They Look!
It is for Chocolate Hazelnut mousse. I use it to frost a Hazelnut cake that is in the same cookbook.
The recipe calls for whipping 2 cups cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 4 tablespoons confectioners sugar. Once it is whipped, fold in about 2/3 (or a bit more) of a jar of nutella.
It is an amazing frosting/ filling for cakes and everyone raves whenever I make it
December 1st, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Thanks, Abby, zorra, and Angela!
Jane, I’m sorry you’ve had trouble commenting. Now you can make up for lost time! The filo cup idea sounds great. Nice presentation, I’m sure.
Anne, that frosting sounds amazingly delicious. I’m afraid there wouldn’t be much left for the cake after I sampled some from the bowl!