Gianduja: The Topic

[Lior]

Have you thought of a thermomix instead?

And I also wanted to ask everyone:

Once again there is a discussion, in which I did not participate, on our local forum (which is not always friendly unfortunately...). A guy whose avatar is something like "The little man from the street" claims that Gianduja cannot be homemade just as chocolate cannot be. It requires machinery that the chocolatier does not have-conch etc. Also he claims it does not use caramelized hazelnut paste, but only hazelnut paste. I always use these opportunities to expand my horizons. I still think that Gianduja can be excellent if homemade and that it can be either caramelized or not. Now this little man claims that this is not a matter of opinion but fact that:

homemade Gianduja is like making oranges from lemons

It is not just a "salad" of paste or pralinee with chocolate

It can only be made in a factory

It does not use caramelized pastes

Do I have a misunderstanding of Gianduja? Is there some correct or proper definition accepted universally? I am dead serious not cynical.

Thanks

Edited September 21, 2009 by Lior (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Have you thought of a thermomix instead?

And I also wanted to ask everyone:

Once again there is a discussion on our local forum (which is not always friendly unfortunately...). A guy whose avatar is something like "The little man from the street" claims that Gianduja cannot be homemade just as chocolate cannot be. It requires machinery that the chocolatier does not have-conch etc. Also he claims it does not use caramelized hazelnut paste, but only hazelnut paste. I always use these opportunities to expand my horizons. I still think that Gianduja can be excellent if homemade and that it can be either caramelized or not. Now this little man claims that this is not a matter of opinion but fact that:

homemade Gianduja is like making oranges from lemons

It is not just a mixture of paste or pralinee with chocolate

It can only be made in a factory

It does not use caramelized pastes

Do I have a misunderstanding of Gianduja? Is there some correct or proper definition accepted universally? I am dead serious not cynical.

Thanks

I think it might have a different name if you make it with caramelized nuts - maybe pralinee (or is that just the nut mixture with the caramellized nuts).

Anyway - we know we can make it at home - so the man on the street is not the brightest man on the street apparently.

[Lior]

I think pralinee is the caramelized nut paste. What he is saying is that what we make at home is not gianduja. He seems very adamant so I started wondering.

[Darienne]

I started this topic in November 08 from our home away from home in Moab. Well, I finally did it. I made my own Gianduja.

Not I'm not saying that it was 'good' and it certainly wasn't according to Hoyle but it got done. I have only a food processor, so of course the resultant hazelnut paste was grainy. 150 grams paste mixed with about 350 grams combined milk and dark chocolate. Hmmmm... pretty grainy. Added some chopped walnuts to disguise the graininess and it worked. Poured it out onto a silpat, sprinkled Fleur de sel on top, cut it up. Yummy. Just had another piece to make sure it was still yummy today. And it was.

[John DePaula]

I made some Gianduja yesterday using Greweling's recipe of 1 : 1.25 : 1 (nuts : milk chocolate : confectioner's sugar). I roasted the nuts really well and threw them hot into my food processor with 25% of the sugar. The recipe says that you just can't process the mixture too much at this point. My first stop was a very nice nut flour. (Nice to know.) But I was going for gianduja, so I continued. Took longer than I thought but finally condensed into a liquid. Whirred a bit more and I added about 50% of the remaining sugar and the milk chocolate, processing just enough to mix.

It's got a delicious nutty taste and is surprisingly smooth, just a touch of graininess which I do not find off-putting at all. Surprisingly soft, not sure why it didn't get hard when refrigerated. The consistency is a little bit stiff for piping (though still possible) and a little too soft for dipping (though, again, with an added foot, this would be possible).

I used quite a bit less sugar than the classic ratio specified by Greweling; though, he does say it's just a starting point. Overall, I'm pleased with it. It'll be interesting to see how this batch mellows over the next few days.

I think I'll put it into a dark chocolate shell or maybe add some coffee to it for a marriage made in heaven.

[Lior]

sounds lovely. Thanks for sharing!

[Amy D.]

I made Greweling's hazelnut Gianduja last year. Again, just in a food processor at home - although it was perhaps not as smooth as a commercial product the texture wasn't that far off, and I didn't have any setting problems using the ratios in the book (but thinking back it may have been a bit sweeter that I would choose). It's definately worth a play with

[lebowits]

I made some Gianduja yesterday using Greweling's recipe of 1 : 1.25 : 1 (nuts : milk chocolate : confectioner's sugar). I roasted the nuts really well and threw them hot into my food processor with 25% of the sugar. The recipe says that you just can't process the mixture too much at this point. My first stop was a very nice nut flour. (Nice to know.) But I was going for gianduja, so I continued. Took longer than I thought but finally condensed into a liquid. Whirred a bit more and I added about 50% of the remaining sugar and the milk chocolate, processing just enough to mix.

It's got a delicious nutty taste and is surprisingly smooth, just a touch of graininess which I do not find off-putting at all. Surprisingly soft, not sure why it didn't get hard when refrigerated. The consistency is a little bit stiff for piping (though still possible) and a little too soft for dipping (though, again, with an added foot, this would be possible).

I used quite a bit less sugar than the classic ratio specified by Greweling; though, he does say it's just a starting point. Overall, I'm pleased with it. It'll be interesting to see how this batch mellows over the next few days.

I think I'll put it into a dark chocolate shell or maybe add some coffee to it for a marriage made in heaven.

I make Greweling's hazelnut gianduja and pipe it as soon as it's reached something near room temp into chocolate cups that I mold ahead of time. I then top it with a whole roasted hazelnut. It's really delicious and looks very nice. The down side to piping gianduja into a shell is that you get "fat bloom" after a while on the shell. I simply make less of them more often which has worked well so far. You can make the chocolate cups pretty far in advance as long as you can store them. Sorry for the fuzzy pic. I need to get some good photos taken.

[Darienne]

Last night I was carelessly humming along, thinking about chocolate and tahini, wondering what delicious cake or mousse could be found on the internet. (Now, for those who have been less than enthusiastic about the use of the internet for recipes, this IS a use for the internet: looking up unusual or unknown recipes.) Found a few, but I lacked either the enthusiasm for said recipe or a key ingredient.

So...I turned my thoughts to making some kind of gianduja using chocolate and tahini. I am not sure how much I liked it. DH liked it just fine. I'll try again and this time put the proper amount of sugar into it.

Any one else try making gianduja using other nut pastes/butters? And can you call them gianduja? Greweling simply states that gianduja is 'nearly always hazelnuts or almonds'. Not heavily prescriptive, so I suppose you could.

We simply ate it all plain.

Edited October 16, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[Darienne]

And so I made the tahini gianduja again with icing sugar a la Greweling...except that I used only 3/4 of his allotment of sugar. Couldn't really say what it tasted like. Not gianduja.

Then DH had some after lunch and said...this tastes very much like chocolate halvah...and so it does. Lacks all texture and no doubt other qualities, but yes, it does taste like chocolate halvah.

[Spring]

I'm sorry if someone has already answered this, if they have I can't find it.

Why can't the gianduja be made by mixing the nut paste into tempered chocolate as opposed to tempering after the two ingredients have been mixed together?

[Kerry Beal]

I'm sorry if someone has already answered this, if they have I can't find it.

Why can't the gianduja be made by mixing the nut paste into tempered chocolate as opposed to tempering after the two ingredients have been mixed together?

It likely can - but the eutectic effect of the nut oil will change the tempering temperatures.

[Spring]

Thanks for your reply Kerry.

I understand that but if the nut paste is added when at the same temperature as the tempered chocolate, for eg about a degree before the lowest temper temperature, then theory wise it wouldnt affect the temper.

Maybe I'm being silly but it's just something that interests and bothers me. Its no problem for me to temper the gianduja as opposed to adding the paste to the tempered chocolate but it bugs me because I understand the explanation but it doesnt make sense to me.

[Kerry Beal]

Thanks for your reply Kerry.

I understand that but if the nut paste is added when at the same temperature as the tempered chocolate, for eg about a degree before the lowest temper temperature, then theory wise it wouldnt affect the temper.

Maybe I'm being silly but it's just something that interests and bothers me. Its no problem for me to temper the gianduja as opposed to adding the paste to the tempered chocolate but it bugs me because I understand the explanation but it doesnt make sense to me.

Dark choc working temp is about 33, milk 31, white 30 or so - gianduju about 27 or 28 C. So adding the nut paste to 31 degree milk chocolate means you need to seed down to about 27 or cool to around 23 - 24 then warm back to 27 or so to temper.

[Ana]

Thank you all for all the info and tips on how to make your own gianduja, I have recently made a mission to accomplish that and this tread has been very useful.

I might be asking an amateur question, but anyway... Using a wet grinder to make hazelnut paste would be step #2- first step being puttting hazelnuts in a food processor or something similar until you get the liquid consistency and then transfer to grinder and process for as long as you need in order get the paste fine enough? In that case, I am guessing you don't need to add oil to the grinder since it's already liquid?

I have both the food processor and the grinder ready, do you think it will work that way?

[Kerry Beal]

Thank you all for all the info and tips on how to make your own gianduja, I have recently made a mission to accomplish that and this tread has been very useful.

I might be asking an amateur question, but anyway... Using a wet grinder to make hazelnut paste would be step #2- first step being puttting hazelnuts in a food processor or something similar until you get the liquid consistency and then transfer to grinder and process for as long as you need in order get the paste fine enough? In that case, I am guessing you don't need to add oil to the grinder since it's already liquid?

I have both the food processor and the grinder ready, do you think it will work that way?

Ana,

Welcome to eGullet. With both a processor and a grinder I would proceed exactly as you suggest. Extra oil not needed. Would love to see your results.

[Ana]

Thank you Kerry, I will be trying today, I'll let you know how it goes.

[Spring]

Thanks again kerry for your advice. I made the pistachio gianduja (looks like baby poo as I used white chocolate), thought it was tempered but its still too soft, so Ill do it again

Ana: you need to put small amounts at a time in the grinder (I used the santha) and be ready with to add a tiny bit of oil (depending on how oily the nuts are, I used pecan and they were a bit dry) otherwise it either clogs the grinders or starts rising up out of the bowl. I panicked a bit and added to much oil so the paste came out too runny

[Ana]

I gave it a try and it worked out great, didn't have to add any oil, it was still quite liquid...

I love how easy and quick it is when you have the right equipment, I'm sure I'll be doing this often...

Thanks again for you help

[mebinsf]

I've been wanting to do a gianduja ganache for some time now. Do most people make their own? (50:50 nuts to milk chocolate?) I have tried grinding hazelnuts myself in a food processor but the result was far too grainy for my taste. Do you use purchased hazelnut paste and mix milk chocolate to create your own? Do you use a premade gianduja from a chocolate manufacturer (ie callebaut or cocoa barry) and make a ganache as you would with traditional chocolate? 

I see recipes in some of the pro books that seem to go the different routes. If you are using hazelnut paste and making your own, do you have a favorite brand? It looks like they are usually made with sugar (praline paste?).

I feel like this subject is actually pretty simple, but I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it.

Thanks for any hints/tips/ideas.

[Kerry Beal]

I use purchased hazelnut paste (Cacao Barry) with milk chocolate. Actually I make 3 different giandujas, one with milk, one with white and one with dark. With milk chocolate I use 350 grams of chocolate to 150 grams of hazelnut paste. I don't use praline paste because I find it too sweet.

 

If I want to grind my own hazelnuts to make paste - I do so in my Sumeet spice grinder or the Thermomix - a food processor never got it smooth enough. 

[Bentley]

I use dark chocolate, toasted hazelnuts and powdered sugar in a 2:2:1 ratio.  If I use milk or white  chocolate, I'd add about 25% more chocolate.

I basically put the nuts and sugar in the food processor until I have a nut butter then I stream in the melted chocolate and process until just combined.  Don't forget to temper your gianduja - I usually table it on marble.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Bentley (log)

[pastrygirl]

 

The food processor doesn't get it perfectly smooth, but the chinoise does!  (Did I mention being slightly obsessive? )

 

I make my own.  60/40 hazelnuts to powdered sugar plus a bit of salt, then about 60/40 dark milk chocolate (49%) to hazelnut paste.  It does take quite some time in the food processor, but it gets close to smooth if you let it go to liquid.

[mebinsf]

Do you use the gianduja as a ganache as is for a bon bon centre? Or do you make a ganache from it?

 

I've seen some gianduja that is too firm for a centre. I that changed by your nut:chocolate ratio?

[Kerry Beal]

I use it as is - it gets softer with different chocolate and proportions of nut paste. 

 

With white chocolate I use less paste - dark - more