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Nutella and gianduja


phlawless

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Gianduja chocolate is, more or less, a paste made of chocolate and hazelnuts (and sometimes almonds). Nutella is a brand name for the gianduja made by the company Ferrero. It was originally called "Pasta Gianduja," was then rebranded as "Supercrema" and then rebranded as "Nutella."

Nutella is distinguished by being a creamy and spreadable gianduja. Other iterations of gianduja are much more dense.

Gianduja is also the name of a commedia dell'arte character.

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That's a great question. Alternatively, could one use a blend of both nutella and almond paste maybe?

Isn't gianduja hazelnut, not almond?

This from Wikipedia:

Gianduja (or, more commonly, gianduia) is a sweet chocolate containing about 50% hazelnut and almond paste. It takes its name from Gianduja, a Carnival and marionette character who represents the archetypal Piedmontese, the Italian region where hazelnut confectionery is common. Purdy's Hedgehogs is an example of Gianduja.

The chocolate hazelnut gelato of the same name originates in Switzerland, as does Gianduia fondue. A related product from Ferrero is Nutella, which was originally called Pasta Gianduja, as a marketing ploy to appeal to children.

Gianduiotti, a speciality of Turin, are chocolates shaped like an upturned boat, again made with a mixture of cocoa and hazelnut paste.

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i don't want to special order the gianduja, since i can get nutella at the grocery store.

anyone know?

I think it depends what you're using it for. I don't think Nutella is temperable, whereas I know that gianduja is (like regular chocolate). If you're looking for a filling or something to flavor a filling, then you should be fine with Nutella. If you're looking for something that behaves like chocolate, then gianduja is what you should use.

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If you look here you can see the ingredients in nutella. Listed as sugar, peanut oil, hazenuts, cocoa etc.

Gianduja, as mentioned before, is milk or dark chocolate mixed 50-50 with unsweetened nut paste.

As Alana notes, gianduja can be tempered and is excellent for making double molds of chocolates because you can put tempered gianduja in both sides of the lined mold then slap it together before it hardens. No need to put a thin layer of chocolate between the two sides of the mold, less chance of your double chocolates falling apart. DIY Guylian seafruits.

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wow! lots of great info and advice...i was planning on using it IN a cake, to replace some of the semi-sweet chocolate

"Godspeed all the bakers at dawn... may they all cut their thumbs and bleed into their buns til they melt away..."

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wow! lots of great info and advice...i was planning on using it IN a cake, to replace some of the semi-sweet chocolate

Then you'd probably be fine with the Nutella.

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Can you make Gianduja?  Does it have to be from a certain region to be called Gianduja?

you can probably make gianduja with a good quality praline paste and some good chocolate. the machine made stuff is so superior because of the fineness of the grind of the nut/nut paste. i don't think it is a d.o.c. type thing...i just think it is the italian name for the product and nobody has come up with another name for it!

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I think there's a difference between Nutella and gianduja in the sense that Nutella is a particular brand of gianduja.

Many people really love Nutella. I think that there is a very distinct difference in the taste of Nutella in Italy and the taste of Nutella in the U.S.

Maybe it's high fructose corn syrup, I don't know, I haven't done a side-by-side comparison of the labels. Maybe it's the sugar content. Maybe it's the relationship between the amount of chocolate and the amount of hazelnut. Maybe it's the sourcing of the hazelnuts. Italian hazelnuts are different than American filberts.

If you are being picky about the quality, or the flavor, I'd try another brand. In many international grocery stores, there are alternative brands of gianduja. Zingerman's carries one.

There is a thread in here somewhere that compares the various brands, and I think, the consensus is that non-Nutella brands are better.

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

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I think there's a difference between Nutella and gianduja in the sense that Nutella is a particular brand of gianduja.

Many people really love Nutella.  I think that there is a very distinct difference in the taste of Nutella in Italy and the taste of Nutella in the U.S.

Maybe it's high fructose corn syrup, I don't know, I haven't done a side-by-side comparison of the labels.  Maybe it's the sugar content.  Maybe it's the relationship between the amount of chocolate and the amount of hazelnut.  Maybe it's the sourcing of the hazelnuts.  Italian hazelnuts are different than American filberts.

You are correct that there are different formulations of Nutella.

is a modified form of gianduja. The exact recipe is a secret closely guarded by Ferrero. According to the product label, the main ingredients of Nutella are sugar and modified vegetable oils, followed far behind by hazelnut, cocoa and skimmed milk, comprising together at most 28% of the ingredients. The recipe for Nutella varies in different countries. In the case of Italy the formulation uses less sugar than the product sold in France. Nutella is marketed as "hazelnut cream" in many countries; it cannot be labeled as a chocolate cream under Italian law, as it does not meet minimum cocoa concentration criteria.

Despite being advertised as a healthy breakfast choice for children, about half of the calories in Nutella come from fat (11g in a 37g serving, or 99 kcal out of 200 kcal) and about 40% of the calories come from sugar (20g, 80 kcal). [1]

Listed ingredients

    * Australia: sugar, vegetable oil, hazelnuts (13%), skim milk powder (8.7%), fat-reduced cocoa powder (7.4%), emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavouring (vanillin)

    * France: sugar, vegetable oil, hazelnuts (13%), fat-reduced cocoa powder (7.4%), skimmed milk powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavouring.

    * Germany: sugar, vegetable oil, hazelnuts (13%), fat-reduced cocoa powder, skimmed milk powder (7.5%), emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavouring (vanillin)

    * Italy: sugar, vegetable oil, hazelnuts (13%), fat-reduced cocoa powder, skimmed milk powder (5%), whey powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavouring.

    * Poland: sugar, rapeseed oil, hazelnuts (13%), cocoa (7.4%), skimmed milk (5%), lactose, soya lecithin, vanillin (an artificial flavor).

    * Spain: sugar, vegetable oil, hazelnuts (13%), fat free cocoa (7.4%), skimmed milk powder (6.6%), whey powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavoring.

    * United Kingdom : sugar, vegetable oils, hazelnuts (13%), fat-reduced cocoa (7.4%), skimmed milk powder (6.6%), whey powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin, vanillin

    * USA & Canada: sugar, modified palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skimmed milk, reduced mineral whey, soy lecithin (an emulsifier), vanillin (an artificial flavor).

Wikipedia: Nutella

None of the varieties appear to contain corn syrup, however.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

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That's very interesting. I suppose I'm paranoid, but I don't believe food labeling.

Guido Gubbino is completely excellent but very expensive. You used to be able to get it at Zingerman's and Amazon of all places. Neither are carrying it right now.

Nutella isn't perfect, but when you're sitting in one of those European hotel breakfast rooms trying to make something to eat out of the weird things offered, that little disk of Nutella and some croissants staring you in the face, well, you relinquish your standards, peel back the little foil cover and spread it on every damn thing you can get away with. Several packets, one falling into your purse quite by accident.

Best sucked off fingers in molto molto longo lino to get into museo.

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

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I agree with Schneich, I can't stand Nutella myself.

But I think in her Pierre Herme books, Dorie Greenspan substitutes Nutella for Gianduja or chocolate/praline paste. You can see this by comparing Dorie's home version of the recipe with Pierre's professional version in his book. So I think it can be done.

Edited by ejw50 (log)
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To combine some nutella and almond paste, would it just be as simple as chucking it all together in a mixer and beating it up or would you need a more sophisticated method? I would love to work with some gianduja but where i live in australia it's hard to come by and i don't fancy ordering chocolate products over the net when they will most likely spend the majority of their time sitting in 25 - 30 degree (celcius) heat prior to delivery. Looking at that international ingredients comparison it would seem australia and italy have more or less the same ingredients but i wonder if the ratios are different. I love nuttella. Especially combined with salty peanut butter.

"Alternatively, marry a good man or woman, have plenty of children, and train them to do it while you drink a glass of wine and grow a moustache." -Moby Pomerance

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