Chocolate hazelnut spread
Confection
Top 10 pairings
Chocolate hazelnut spread is the soft, sweet, glossy paste — the Nutella archetype — that descends from Piedmontese gianduja but is reformulated to be smooth and spreadable straight from a jar. Built on sugar, palm or other vegetable oil, cocoa and a modest fraction of roasted hazelnuts, it is milder, sweeter and far oilier than firm gianduja, and it has become one of the most ubiquitous sweet spreads on earth.
Picking a good onedrag
Glossy, soft, cocoa-and-toasted-nutDull, grainy, crayon-rancid
Open and in weekly useEveryday bestThe all-rounder: swirled through babka and pastry, folded into frosting or a ganache-style filling, or eaten straight off the spoon.
Smell into the jarStill plainly cocoa and nut, but flatter - the vanilla and the toasted top note have gone quiet
Look at the surfaceA film of oil standing on top, the paste beneath it darker and stiffer - a palm-free or high-nut jar
Take a knife through itStiff and dragging, tearing the bread instead of spreading - a jar out of the fridge or a cold room
The jar and its labelThe standard formula - sugar first, then palm oil, with hazelnut, cocoa and milk powder behind