Simple Cooking - Primehouse Edition

By Anthony Todd in Food on May 7, 2010 4:20PM

On Wednesday, we showed you how the pros make intricate and tasty desserts, designed to wow your eyes and your taste buds. But sometimes the tastiest bits of your meal can be done at home without a ton of effort or equipment. On our way out, Jove Hubbard showed us some of the candies that the restaurant makes. One, a heavenly hazelnut concoction, made us swoon with pleasure (and sneak a few extras). When we asked, he told us that it only had 2 ingredients and took about 20 minutes - and we begged for the recipe.

The primary ingredient, gianduja, is a hazelnut/chocolate mixture, like a solid version of Nutella. You can find it at gourmet stores and online. Don't hesitate to use giandjua marketed as a candy bar; that's actually the cheapest way we found it. The recipe requires a double boiler, but a metal bowl set over a pot of water works just fine.

Hazelnut Gianduja Candies
Courtesy of Jove Hubbard

6 oz. gianduja, chopped fine
1 tbsp soft butter

Melt half of the gianduja in the top half a double boiler. Mix it with the unmelted gianduja and all of the soft butter. With an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy. Put the creamy mixtures into a piping bag with a star tip. Pipe out desired shapes onto parchment paper or a silpat and allow to set overnight. If you feel fancy, garnish with finely chopped hazelnuts.Serve to your guests - if you don't eat them all yourself.