Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses Food

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE KISSES

Steps:

• Place 6 ounces of the chocolate into a 2-quart mixing bowl. In a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Pour the cream into the bowl with the chocolate. Let the mixture stand for 1 minute, then stir together using a rubber spatula, whisk, or immersion blender until smooth and thoroughly mixed. Stir in the ground hazelnuts and blend well. Cover, let cool to room temperature, and chill in the refrigerator until thick but not stiff (2 to 3 hours).
• Melt and temper the remaining 12 ounces chocolate (see pages 25-30). Pour the tempered chocolate into a paper pastry cone and cut off a 1/2-inch opening at the pointed end of the cone. Or pour the chocolate into a plastic squeeze bottle. Pipe or squeeze chocolate into each cavity of a 12-space, 1-inch-deep, spiral-topped chocolate mold. Tap the mold on a countertop a few times to eliminate air pockets. Let the chocolate sit in the mold at room temperature for 3 minutes. Turn the mold upside down over a sheet of parchment or waxed paper and let the chocolate run out. This will leave a thin film of chocolate coating each cavity of the mold. With a small flexible-blade spatula, clean off the edges of each cavity of the mold.
• Place a hazelnut in each cavity. Fit a 12-inch pastry bag with a large, plain round pastry tip with a 1/2-inch opening and fill partway with the hazelnut truffle cream. Pipe the truffle cream into each cavity, filling it just below the top edge. Fill up the mold cavity with the remaining tempered chocolate. With a small flexible-blade spatula, clean off the edges of each cavity, if necessary.
• Place the mold in the freezer until the chocolate is set (15 minutes). Remove the mold from the freezer and turn it upside down over a piece of parchment or waxed paper. Hold the mold by opposite corners and gently twist it in opposite directions. The candies should drop out of the mold. If they don't drop out easily, return the mold to the freezer for another 15 minutes and try again. Place the kisses in paper candy cups.
• In a tightly covered container wrapped in several layers of aluminum foil, the kisses will keep for 1 month in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer. The kisses taste best at room temperature.
• VARIATION
• White Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses: For the truffle cream, substitute 8 ounces white chocolate for the 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate and use 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream. For the coating, replace the bittersweet chocolate with white.

HAZELNUT MERINGUE KISSES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225°F. and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fit a large pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip.
• In a bowl with am electric mixer beat whites with cream of tartar and salt until they just hold soft peaks. Add sugar in a stream and beat in vanilla and espresso and cocoa powders, beating until meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks.
• Working quickly, fold ground hazelnuts into meringue gently but thoroughly and fill pastry bag with meringue. Pipe 42 dots (each about 1/2 teaspoon) of meringue onto parchment 1/2 inch apart and top each dot with a whole hazelnut (meringue dots will anchor nuts). Pipe meringue over hazelnuts, encasing them, to form cookies about 1 inch wide and 1 3/4 inches high.
• Bake cookies in middle and lower third of oven, switching positions of baking sheets halfway through baking, 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until meringue os form on the outside and pale golden (cookies will fall during baking). Remove parchment with cookies from baking sheets and cool on racks (cookies will continue to crisp as they cool). Carefully peel cookies off parchment.
• In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth, and remove from het. Dip top half of each cookie in melted chocolate, transferring cookies, chocolate sides up, to a wax-paper-lined tray. Chill cookies until chocolate is hardened, about 15 minutes. Cookies keep, arranged in layers between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container and chilled, 5 days.

CHOCOLATE-FILLED HAZELNUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Grind nuts with confectioners sugar in a food processor until powdery (be careful not to process to a paste).
• Beat together butter, zest, salt, and nut mixture in a large bowl with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until creamy, then add flour, stirring until just incorporated (do not overwork).
• Roll level 1/2 teaspoons of dough into tiny balls (the size of marbles) and arrange 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until very pale golden, 12 to 14 minutes, then slide parchment with cookies onto a rack to cool completely.
• Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Spoon melted chocolate into a small plastic bag and seal bag, forcing out excess air. Snip off 1 bottom corner of bag with scissors to form a small hole.
• Pipe a small mound (about 1/8 teaspoon) of melted chocolate onto flat sides of 10 cookies, then top with 10 more cookies, pressing flat sides together to help adhere. Repeat procedure with remaining cookies.

CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT SMOOCHES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In another medium bowl, place the chocolate hazelnut spread, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.
• Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Rolls the balls in the orange sprinkles or orange sugar, pressing to adhere. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.