Hazelnut Orange Rochers Food

HAZELNUT ROCHERS

Steps:

• To make the ganache, pour the cream into a saucepan and scrape in the seeds from the vanilla pod, along with the pod. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 30 mins. Strain the infused cream into a clean saucepan, add the sugar and bring to the boil.
• Put the Gianduja and dark chocolate in a mixing bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and mix until everything forms a thick melted chocolate mixture.
• Add the butter and mix well until fully incorporated. Leave the ganache to set at room temperatire for 1-2 hrs.
• To assemble, put the ganache in a piping bag fitted with a 12mm nozzle. Pipe small 'bulbs' of the ganache onto a lined tray. Put a whole rosted hazelnut into each bulb of ganache.
• Pipe a larger bulb of ganache on top of each hazelnut and leave to set for 1 hr in the fridge.
• Roll each bulb into a sphere and coat in feuillantine, then chill while you prepare the nutty chocolate.
• Temper the milk chocolate by melting 2/3 of it in a bowl to 45C-50C set over a pan of simmering water. Add the remaining chocolate to allow it to cool to 26C-27C, then melt back to 29C-30C.
• Add the almonds to the tempered chocolate. Remove the ganache from the fridge and use a fork to dip each into the nutty chocolate. If the chocolate thickens too much, warm it slightly.
• Place each rocher on a lined tray to set for 1-2 hrs in a cool, dry area before decorating with gold leaf to finish, if you like. Will keep for one week stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

HAZELNUT-ORANGE ROCHERS

Steps:

• Pulse toasted hazelnuts, confectioners' sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground (mixture should be powdery). Add egg whites and orange zest and juice, and pulse until combined. Transfer batter to an airtight container, and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Nest 2 baking sheets (to prevent bottoms of cookies from browning too quickly), and line top sheet with parchment. Drop tablespoons of batter onto lined sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart. Shape each into a mound, top with 2 hazelnut halves, and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Refrigerate remaining batter.
• Bake cookies, rotating sheets from front to back halfway through, until golden brown, 20 to 23 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter.

FROZEN CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT CHEESECAKE BARS

Steps:

• Lightly grease your 23 x 33cm (9 x 13in) baking tin and line with a large single sheet of parchment paper that fully covers both base and sides.
• Add the cookies, hazelnuts and salt to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse until ground to fine crumbs. Pour in the melted butter and pulse until evenly mixed. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and use the base of a glass or measuring cup to compact evenly. Set aside.
• For the cheesecake, put the cream and vanilla into a large bowl and whisk into soft peaks. Set aside.
• Put the cream cheese, icing sugar, chocolate spread and sea salt into another bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes.
• Add the whipped vanilla cream to the cheesecake mixture and fold together until evenly combined. Scrape this into the tin and spread evenly. Cover and place in the freezer until the cheesecake is solid, about 4 hours.
• For the shell, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl in a microwave, using short bursts of heat to prevent it from burning, or over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, stir in the chopped hazelnuts, then set aside for at least 10 minutes before using.
• To serve, use the parchment paper to carefully lift the frozen cheesecake from the tin and transfer it to a board. Cut into squares, then dip them into the chocolate mixture or simply pour a little of it on top of them. I like to serve the rochers while still firm from the freezer, almost like ice cream, but if you prefer, you can leave them to soften so that the cheesecake has a more mousse-like texture.

CHOCOLATE, ORANGE & HAZELNUT CAKE

Steps:

• Make the candied orange slices a day ahead if you can. Put the sugar and 300ml water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer, add the orange slices and cook for 1 hr-1 hr 10 mins or until the pith is translucent, turning occasionally. Line a baking tray with parchment. Carefully remove the slices from the syrup, place on the prepared tray and set aside to dry (at least 8 hrs) before cutting in half. Reserve the syrup.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly grease a loaf tin (mine was 900g) with olive oil and line with a strip of baking parchment.
• Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs (do not blitz them too much or they will become oily), then add to a bowl along with the orange zest, a pinch of salt and the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Mix together until evenly combined.
• Pour the oil and the orange juice into a jug and mix together. Put the eggs and sugar in a tabletop mixer or large bowl and whisk together for 5-10 mins or until the mixture has tripled in volume and holds a ribbon on the surface when the beaters are lifted out. Slowly pour the oil mixture into the egg mixture and fold together until combined.
• Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture in 3 or 4 additions, folding together until combined. You can't sieve this mixture over the eggs because of the hazelnuts, but try not to dump the flour in one place - you need to be careful and fold the batter to retain its lightness. Once fully combined, pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-55 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Prick the top of the cake all over, then pour over 5 tbsp of the reserved orange syrup. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Trim the top of the cake (keep this for a mini trifle) and turn out, cut-side down, onto a serving platter.
• To decorate, pour the orange juice into a small pan and bring to a simmer. Put the chocolate in a small bowl, pour the orange juice over and stir together to form a smooth ganache. Set aside in the fridge until thickened, about 20-25 mins. Tip the hazelnuts into a small bowl and add the gold powder with a dash of water, stirring together to coat. Put the ganache in a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip. Pipe in peaks over the top of the cake, decorating with the golden hazelnuts and the orange slices. Will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

CHOCOLATE-ORANGE HAZELNUT BARK

Steps:

• Line a small (9-by-13-inch) baking sheet with aluminum foil; refrigerate. With a vegetable peeler, remove zest from half the orange. With a sharp knife, cut zest into very thin strips, each about an inch long.
• Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted and completely smooth. Mix in half the zest and hazelnuts. Immediately, pour onto prepared baking sheet; with a flexible rubber spatula, spread into an 8-by-10 inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. (To help spread chocolate, tip baking sheet up and down.) Sprinkle with remaining zest, nuts, and coarse salt.
• Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. To serve, break into pieces. To store, transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate, up to 3 days.