Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso (and Shelley from At Home in Rome,in spirit) solemnly declare Friday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2010″ – a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella.
This is my second year of decreeing my love for the flavour marriage of chocolate and hazelnut - in spreadable form no less! First off I must confess that for this Nutella celebration, I did not use Nutella... I cheated a bit and used a scrumptious high brow version made by Italian chocolate gods, Amedei, a lovely souvenir from our trip to Italy last year.
I came to Nutella late in life, so my taste buds might not be as honed to the real deal as some people. This Amedei stuff is the one to my heart however. No surprise it costs a small fortune. Champagne tastes... my mother always says. Amedei chocolate is one of my favourite bars in the world, one that makes my heart beat a little faster whenever I spot some, a rarity. This spread contains nothing but Amedei cocoa making it worth the cost of a jar alone. But the even better is the hazelnuts from the Piedmont region in Northwest Italy, considered to be the finest in the world. This is a jar with a bit of pedigree, and I'll admit I'm fairly smitten with it, but none of this is meant to be taken away from the reason a jar of this exists. And that's the original chocolate hazelnut spread - Nutella. So Happy World Nutella Day all! If there ever was a day to buy yourself a jar and spread it on thick, this is it!
Since Christmas I've been going through a bit of a spring clean in my fridge and freezer. I"m amazed at some of the things I've been finding in there, and also pleased with the resourcefulness this kind of mindset encourages. While I had some good ideas for more ice cream related treats made with Nutella, none of them felt right. Then I found my handy dandy bag of cookie dough, leftover logs of this and that. I spotted the last of my tangerine meltaways dough and that's when inspiration hit me. A simple butter cookie would have been perfect, but oranges are in season now and actually go beautifully with hazelnuts and chocolate. This buttery cookie with plenty of tangerine zest would be a perfect jumping off point. And since I just finished a batch of graham crackers last week I've had marshmallows on the brain. I recalled a Daring Bakers challenge I missed last year for Chocolate Dipped Marshmallow cookies, sort of a gourmet Mallomar, if you will. And that's how these cookies were born. And for a bit of a whim, these cookies are so impressive, so pretty, and really tasty. A buttery cookie dough, rich Nutella like filling and a soft, spongy marshmallow, all wrapped up with a bittersweet chocolate bow! Well I'm thinking these might be a great Valentines gift for sure!
So what are you doing today to celebrate your love of Nutella? All it takes really is a spoon.
Buttery tangerine flavoured cookies with Nutella- inspired spread await.
Marshmallows are so fun to make. Much easier than you think. This one has a dash of hazelnut extract, a fitting flavour today. A future post is in the making here I believe.
Marshmallows are piped directly on top of the cookies
Leftover marshmallows dry on a cornstarch lined tray, waiting a snack, ice cream or more chocolate to envelope them.
Nutella Marshmallow Cookies,
Tangerine Meltaways:
adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- Grated zest of 1 tangerine
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed tangerine juice
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.
- Between two 8-by-12-inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Homemade marshmallows:
from Gale Gand
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar in small saucepan, bring to a boil until "soft-ball" stage, or 235 degrees. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff. Transfer to pastry bag. Dust piece of parchment lined on a baking sheet with cornstarch, liberally. Using a 1/2 inch plain tip, pipe out dollops with the same diameter as the baked cookies. Set aside for about 1 hour to set and make easier to work with.
Chocolate glaze:
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
- 2 ounces vegetable oil
Chocolate Glaze: Melt 2 ingredients together in glass measuring cup in a microwave oven, or a bowl set over barely simmering water. Stir well.
My post from World Nutella Day 2009
See what others around world did to celebrate this special day on February 8th.
