Dark chocolate hazelnut clusters

hazelnuts fresh from the oven

On this Sunday, in the middle of our covid19 shutdown, I woke up with plans to cook a few things.  I only made it through two items today, but they were fun to do.  One of these was chocolate covered hazelnut clusters.

I keep bags of hazelnuts in my freezer ready to use whenever I get an urge for anything with hazelnuts, my favorite of all nuts.  Keeping them in the freezer is something I do to help them last longer.  Today I grabbed a decent amount and tossed them into the oven at 350 F for 10 minutes.

roasted and cooled and partially skinned

Once they cooled, I tossed them into a zip-locked bag and proceeded to walk around my living room watching one of my favorite shows, Kim's Convenience, a Canadian television show, while I shook the bag and rolled it around roughly in my hands.  In doing so, many of the nuts were skinned for the most part.  A few did not lose their skins, but I don't usually worry about that.   I do what can be done with a modicum of effort and then accept that some of the nuts won't be completely skinned.  Hazelnuts can be bought already skinned, in case that's what you prefer.

hazelnut clusters resting

Then I put them aside while I melted a blend of chocolates, and then tempered the chocolate.  Tempering takes a bit of practice.  It involves melting the chocolate without letting the temperature get too high, and then letting it cool a certain amount before raising it again to just the right level for the formation of the proper crystal types, all depending on the type of chocolate being used.  And part of that includes some agitation of the chocolate as well.  When it was done, I dumped in the nuts, and then scooped out consistent amounts using a mid-sized cookie dough scoop.

ready to eat

Once the chocolate has set at room temperature (no need to put it into the fridge if you've tempered the chocolate), they are smooth and glossy and extremely enticing.

yum

Dark chocolate, roasted hazelnuts, and a visually appealing finished product.  What a great way to spend a Sunday morning.