Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato

This is a very nice gelato. Smooth, creamy, chocolatey, and crunchy. Rich, but not too rich; sweet, but not too sweet.

This recipe calls for a substantial amount of hazelnuts. Blanching the nuts literally was the most labor-intensive step in the entire process. In the future, I intend to plan ahead and purchase blanched hazelnuts.

I used Cacao Barry Callebaut Amber, and Frangelico in the recipe. Two cups ground hazelnuts was too much for my strainer, so I had to do that in batches. I am the dishwasher in my kitchen, and this recipe requires a substantial amount of labor in that regard. Just sayin’.

I had thought that an entire cup of chopped nuts added to the custard base would be too much, but the effect produced was similar to eating chocolate-covered almonds. The result was a nice toasted nut crunch, but not hazelnut that overpowered chocolate. The balance was just about right.

That said, if I were to make this recipe again, I would double the amount of Frangelico. Also, I used Jeni’s (Splendid Ice Cream) procedure of putting the custard in a resealable plastic bag and submerging it in an ice bath rather than refrigerating it for a more rapid chill.