There's something about Nutella

Nutella arrived in Germany when I was young and it made me a very happy little girl. Many a morning I gleefully skipped to a nearby bakery to pick up fresh bread for my Nutella breakfast. I loved being the first one to poke a hole in the tightly-stretched gold foil of a new jar; it made a most wonderful popping sound. I lathered the mocha brown spread on a crusty roll, and it felt pleasantly smooth on my tongue and tasted headily of cocoa and hazelnuts.

I've been thinking about Nutella lately and started reading on how it was invented in Italy in the 1940s by confectioner Pietro Ferraro. The catchy name was made up, from the English word nut and ~ella, the Italian form of indicating smallness, so it's a little nutty, but cute! All the browsing confirmed that Nutella has not yet gone out of stye.

Nutella to us kids was (and is) what peanut butter means to our American counterparts. It traveled with us in form of sandwiches on summer outings, where it melted and dripped onto our arms and we had to lick it off. We enjoyed paper-thin rolled up pancakes with Nutella filling; it was, in truth, a legitimate excuse to have chocolate. Not too long ago, I tasted a tweaked “Velvet Elvis” which is basically a toasted peanut butter and banana sandwich with an added thin layer of Nutella. Sort of a culinary meet-cute. I was sold!

On the home front, I reworked an OK-tasting almond tart into a Hazelnut Nutella tart that makes me happy in so many ways. A quick buttery pâte sablée (a fancy word for sweet pastry dough) is filled with toasted hazelnuts and a glob of Nutella, which brings out the exquisitely and uniquely deep hazelnut flavor. After it's baked, I spread on a thin layer of sweet-tart raspberry jam and finish it with a spirited drizzle of a lemony powdered sugar glaze. It does Nutella proud.

Hazelnut Nutella Tart

Serves 12

Bake at 350 degrees

Tart:

1 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

½ cup butter, chilled and cut into cubes

1 egg, lightly beaten

Filling:

½ cup butter at room temperature

½ cup sugar

4-6 oz toasted hazelnuts, finely ground

2 tbs Nutella

2 eggs

Finishing touch:

½ cup raspberry jam

½ cup powdered sugar, mixed with 2-3 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and sugar. Using a couple of pastry blenders or table knives, quickly work in the butter and the egg just until combined and press into tart pan one inch up on sides. Chill.

Toast whole hazelnuts in 400 degree oven until fragrant, 8 - 10 minutes. Using a clean kitchen towel, rub nuts until all the loose skin flakes off, it doesn't have to be perfect. Finely ground nuts in food processor. Beat butter and sugar, add nuts, Nutella and eggs, one at a time.

Spoon filling in prepared tart shell and bake 35 – 45 minutes until filling is set. Cool. To serve, spread with a thin layer of raspberry jam and drizzle with glaze.

Serve with a dollop of barely sweetened, stiffly whipped cream.