Published: April 30th, 2020 | Last Updated: April 30th, 2020

Have you ever made a hazelnut dessert and found that the flavour is not coming through? There could be an issue with the way you are roasting the hazelnuts. There is a vast difference in taste between raw and roasted hazelnuts. Raw hazelnuts are bland until they are roasted. We discovered the secret to extracting the full flavour of the hazelnut on our trip to a hazelnut farm in Piedmont, Italy, home of the worlds best hazelnuts. Take your hazelnut desserts to the next level with this technique.

The best way to roast hazelnuts

The secret to full flavoured roasted hazelnuts is to roast them low and slow at 140°C for about 1 hour. This will ensure an even roasting and that the entire nut is roasted instead of just the outside. It’s what’s on the inside that counts when it comes to unlocking flavour. Having full flavoured roasted hazelnuts is especially important when incorporating hazelnuts into desserts like gianduja, mousse, crème brûlée or ice cream where the hazelnut is diluted. Without deeply roasting the hazelnuts the deep and rich hazelnut flavour you are looking for may not come through. This deeply roasted hazelnut technique is the basis for our hazelnut paste recipe we use for most of our hazelnut desserts.

Roasting the hazelnut using this method also makes the hazelnut extra crunchy and almost glass-like. This is perfect for crunchy hazelnut toppings or for a praline crumb or hazelnut bresilienne.

The issue with roasting at 180°C for 10-15 minutes is that the oven is so hot that by the time the outside of the hazelnut is done, the inside is still raw. If you go beyond 15 minutes, the outside may burn before the inside is cooked. Roasting nuts this way is good for a quick and easy solution. But if you have time and want to step your desserts up a notch, then low and slow is the way to go.