Crema Gianduja

the Piedmontese spreadable hazelnut chocolate that came long before the jar: toasted Langhe hazelnuts ground to a running paste and worked into melted chocolate, kept soft for the breakfast table

Origin: Italy

From the journey of Hazelnut.

The spreadable hazelnut chocolate is very much older than the famous jar, and it is Piedmontese to its core. When Napoleon's Continental Blockade cut off the supply of cocoa in 1806, the confectioners of Turin stretched their scarce and costly chocolate by grinding into it a paste of the local Langhe hazelnut, and gianduja was born of that economy; in 1852 Michele Prochet perfected the roasting and grinding of the nuts into the chocolate, and in 1865 the mixture was moulded into the little ingot called the gianduiotto after Gianduja, the carnival mask of Turin. What Pietro Ferrero did in Alba after the Second World War was not to invent the confection but to change its form and its price: his Giandujot of 1946 was a solid loaf meant to be sliced onto bread, softened in 1951 into the spreadable Supercrema and rebranded in 1964 as Nutella. Alongside that industrial history the artisanal one continued, and Piedmontese confectioners and home cooks still make crema gianduja, or crema spalmabile alle nocciole, in the old proportions: far more hazelnut, far less sugar, and a deep roasted flavour that no factory product matches. The only technical difference from the moulded gianduiotto is a little added fat, which keeps the crema soft and spreadable instead of letting it set to a snap.

Ingredients

  • 250 g hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
  • 120 g icing sugar
  • 150 g milk chocolate (or dark, for a less sweet crema), chopped
  • 30 g full-fat milk powder, optional, for a milkier spread
  • 3 tbsp mild neutral oil (grapeseed or sunflower), or more to loosen
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch fine salt

Method

  1. Warm the toasted, skinned hazelnuts through in a low oven, then tip them straight into a food processor and blend, stopping to scrape down the sides, for 6 to 10 minutes, until they pass from a dry meal into a smooth, glossy, freely running paste.
  2. Add the icing sugar, the milk powder if using, the vanilla, and the salt, and blend again for a minute or two until completely smooth.
  3. Melt the chocolate gently, in a bowl over barely simmering water or in short bursts in the microwave, and stir until smooth. Pour it into the running processor and blend until the mixture is glossy and evenly combined.
  4. With the motor running, trickle in the oil until the crema reaches the consistency you want: it should fall thickly from a spoon while still warm, since it firms considerably as it cools.
  5. Pour into clean jars and leave to cool at room temperature. Store in a cool cupboard rather than the refrigerator, and stir before use if a little oil separates.

Notes

The proportions are the point of a home-made crema: commercial spreads are mostly sugar and vegetable fat with a modest proportion of nuts, whereas this is roughly half hazelnut, which is why it tastes so much more strongly of the nut. Use the best hazelnuts you can, ideally Piedmontese, and toast them well. For the classic pale crema di nocciole, leave the chocolate out altogether and increase the milk powder. A blender or a high-powered processor will give a smoother result than a small food processor; the very smoothest artisan versions are passed through a stone melangeur for hours.

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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