Hazelnut Crémeux
Hazelnut Crémeux
Imagine whipped nutella and that is what you get with hazelnut crémeux! It has a deep, nutty flavour with just a slight sweetness. The cream is stabilised with a little bit of gelatin which makes it beautifully smooth to pipe, and it holds it shape really well once you’ve finished.
A crémeux is almost like a whipped custard texture, with a very rich and creamy mouthfeel. I would definitely recommend trying the pistachio & chocolate versions too!
Ingredients
Method
Into a small bowl, add the powdered gelatin and cold water. Stir to combine, then set aside for 10 minutes to bloom. If you are using leaf gelatin, just soak this in a bowl of cold water.
Add the pure hazelnut paste into a tall measuring jug. This has no additional oils or sugars but is slightly more expensive. You can use a supermarket alternative but it may contain additional sugars so just be aware the sweetness levels may change.
Into a medium saucepan, add the milk and cream. If you are using a cream with a lower fat percentage that is fine, the final crémeux will just be slightly less rich and creamy. Place it over a medium low heat.
Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl until combined.
Once the cream is steaming, slowly pour it over the egg yolk mixture, whisking to combine.
Return the entire mixture back into the saucepan, and whisk constantly until it reaches 82C/180F on a digital thermometer.
Immediately remove it from the heat and pour it through a sieve, over the hazelnut paste. Scoop in the bloomed gelatin (or squeeze out the exxcess water of the gelatin leaf and put this in). Allow the mixture to sit for a minute.
Use a hand blender to blend it until it's completely smooth and all the hazelnut paste has been incorporated.
Stir through a pinch of flakey sea salt and taste. I like to keep the sugar levels relatively low on this recipe, but if you taste it and want more sugar, add another 5-10g and blend again.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cover the surface with clingfilm. Refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 6 hours. If you need to speed this process up, pour the mixture onto a large baking tray and cover it with clingfilm. This will increase the surface area so it chills faster.
Add the chilled mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on a medium speed until it holds a medium stiff peak.
It is now ready to be piped. It is a slightly softer cream when piped, but it does firm up more if chilled. The recipe will make around 400g of cream in total.
