This turned out to be completely different, but in some ways, better than the real thing...
On Sundays, for brunch, it's a bit of a Swiss tradition to eat zopf, which is a braid of white bread made with milk and plenty of melted butter instead of water. There's even a business in Zürich made up of people who bake a load of zopfs, in the own kitchens, which are then delivered early on Sunday mornings into people's post boxes.
I made one last Saturday (not for this business), and was on the verge of buying some nutella, when it struck me it's chocolate and hazelnut spread - Anouk's allergic to hazelnuts, so I decided it was the perfect excuse to try to concoct something. Last weekend's attempt was OK, but the mix had a burnt taste (from the nuts I toasted for too long) and went too hard to be spreadable.
Today I toasted almonds and peanuts, then processed them in the liquidiser for about 15mins. It takes this long for the oil to be released from the nuts and for it to become a sticky mass, edging towards a peanut butter-like state. Actually, I had to add a slug of sunflower oil to get it oily enough to be sure the spread wouldn't go too hard. I chucked in some allspice and a pinch of salt, too. Then I melted dark chocolate with some golden syrup and milk, mixed the nuttiness in and put it in an old jam jar in the cupboard. It is lush, and I can't wait to get it on some buttery toast.
Quantities approximately:
40g almonds
40g peanuts
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 tsp allspice (optional - I can't really taste it in the spread)
pinch of salt
80g dark chocolate
2 tsp golden syrup
1 tbsp milk
Sounds like it would make a fine component in a chocolate cake as well, filling, icing, muffins. I've never made a zopf - it's going on the list!
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that might keep it soft is liquid glucose, something I have bought but not actually used.
Did your liquidiser get a little 'hot' doing all that work?
best wishes Joanna
Mmm, yes, it did a bit, it's old enough as it is, and now the plastic's starting to crack and shards are falling off. Time for a new investment perhaps.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the tip, next time I'll get some liquid glucose and add that later, instead of melting the chocolate with golden syrup.
Love your blog, by the way, I've been exploring it all morning.
Made chocolate sauce with golden syrup last night and a couple of spoonfuls of milk, poured over icecream and fresh pears. Delicious... You are a bad influence ;-)
ReplyDeleteAlmost guaranteed to make people happy is chocolate sauce and ice cream, I reckon. There should always be a block of dark chocolate and some golden syrup in the cupboard, as a kind of first-aid kit.
ReplyDelete