In the last year or so, I have definitely found my love for hazelnuts. Seriously, where have those been all my life? Of course, to optimize hazelnuts, there must be chocolate. When I found the recipe for this gianduja (apparently means Nutella) mousse in Food & Wine magazine, it called to me to make it as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, “as soon as possible” was much longer than I had anticipated, because creme fraiche is nowhere to be found in my town. I could find it many miles away, but with the heat we’ve had I didn’t see it making it back home. Then, finally, when I wasn’t even looking for it, I found it somewhat locally and immediately tossed it into my cart.
The trouble I went through to find that one ingredient was the toughest part of this mousse recipe. It’s quite the simple dessert to whip up. And it tastes so, so good.
The original gianduja mousse recipe suggests serving it with chocolate wafer cookies. We had ours with hazelnut piroulline cookies. In addition, as the magazine suggested, we spread some of the mousse on a chocolate wafer cookie, and then topped that with another cookie. After a while in the freezer, we had our own little ice cream sandwiches. However you decide to serve this decadent dessert, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
Decadent Gianduja Mousse
This rich and smooth Gianduja Mousse recipe is bursting with chocolate hazelnut flavor. Gianduja is denser than Nutella, and just as decadent!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- 1/4 cup creme fraiche
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons Frangelico (or brandy)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix the Nutella, creme fraiche, and Frangelico at low speed of a hand mixer until smooth. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat the cream until firm peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the Nutella mixture. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before serving.
- Serve with chocolate wafer cookies or chocolate hazelnut rolled wafer cookies.
Notes
Recipe slightly adapted from Food and Wine.
14 Comments on “Decadent Gianduja Mousse”
I love the subtle tartness that creme fraiche provides a dish.
You’ll be able to find it easily once you get the heck out of ole Miss’ippi.
Jennifer, creme fraiche is a breeze to make. Take 1 cup good heavy cream that has not been ultra-pasteurized, put it in a jar that has a tight-fitting lid, stir in a couple of tablespoons of sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt, and let it sit, on the counter, for 24 hours. Then refrigerate.
I can’t wait to try this “nutella”.
hazelnut and chocolate are a natural pair. I can’t wait to try this recipe out, except I have to hunt for creme fraiche first. 🙂 (Or as Vanessa suggested, make my own.)
That look absolutely decadent! Creme fraiche is hard to find, but I think you can usually substitute it for sour cream even though the taste is not exactly the same. Great recipe!
Thanks, everyone, for the compliments!
Thanks for the tip, Vanessa. I actually looked into making my own, but I really wanted to try it with “the real stuff” first. I’ll definitely give it a shot next time, though!
Wow. I love the idea of the frozen sandwiches!
I love hazelnuts, too. I can recommend the following recipe for baci (means kisses in Italian): http://kochtopf.twoday.net/stories/3209815/
It’s just delicious and easy to make.
I made this the other day, it’s deadly! Served it in little filo cups. Great recipe! Used Cognac because I didn’t have what it called for.
Your new site lets me leave comments! Great!
Oh wow! This looks utterly amazing. If only I wasn’t dieting….
This looks a lot like a recipe from The Whimsical Bakehouse: Fun-to-Make Cakes That Taste as Good as They Look!
It is for Chocolate Hazelnut mousse. I use it to frost a Hazelnut cake that is in the same cookbook.
The recipe calls for whipping 2 cups cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 4 tablespoons confectioners sugar. Once it is whipped, fold in about 2/3 (or a bit more) of a jar of nutella.
It is an amazing frosting/ filling for cakes and everyone raves whenever I make it
Thanks, Abby, zorra, and Angela!
Jane, I’m sorry you’ve had trouble commenting. Now you can make up for lost time! The filo cup idea sounds great. Nice presentation, I’m sure.
Anne, that frosting sounds amazingly delicious. I’m afraid there wouldn’t be much left for the cake after I sampled some from the bowl!
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After reading this, I was surprised to read you couldn’t buy crème fraich locally. Make it yourself and you’ll never be without. For over a year now, I’ve been making my own buttermilk and my own crème fraich. In the store, I can only find low fat buttermilk. Making my own, I use whole milk Beats anything you can buy in the store, and it is always on hand.
1 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup buttermilk. Mix and let ferment for 12-24 hours. Cover the vessel you use with a paper towel or coffee filter. It will thicken up and when you put it in the fridge, it will thicken even more. To spice it up a little, sometimes I add a tbsp. of lemon juice. Makes it a bit more tart, which actually is preferred.
Let me know what you think?