Hazelnuts in white chocolate

Chocolate-coated hazelnuts in a creamy white shell

White chocolate-coated hazelnuts by Tastelanghe from Piedmont. Whole, roasted Tonda Gentile hazelnuts, making up 35% of the pack, coated layer by layer with white chocolate in a copper kettle. The sweetest of the four varieties, 110 grams.

White chocolate-coated hazelnuts are chocolate-covered nuts from Piedmont. At Tastelanghe, whole roasted hazelnuts from the family’s own groves are coated in a panning kettle with white chocolate made from cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, and milk fat. The nut content is 35%.

Sweet shell, crunchy center

Creamy, milky, sweet—and a crunchy roasted nut inside. The sweetest of the four varieties. White chocolate alone would be too much here, but the nut brings it back down to earth. Its roasted aroma is the counterpoint that the shell needs.

Bourbon vanilla from real pods rounds off the chocolate. White couverture is unforgiving when it comes to vanillin, as it is too easily detected.

Visually, they are the most striking in the range: ivory-white spheres that look like little Easter eggs in a bowl. You don't need any further decoration on a dessert plate.

Hours in a rotating kettle

Panning means the roasted nuts rotate in a kettle while chocolate is added in portions. Each layer dries before the next is added. In the end, each nut has its own coating and the round shape characteristic of chocolate-coated nuts.

This is particularly delicate with white chocolate. It contains no cocoa solids, only cocoa butter, which is sensitive to temperature fluctuations. If the kettle gets too warm, the shell loses its shine and becomes dull and gray.

The hazelnuts come from the Quazzo family's own groves in Somano, south of Alba. They have been growing there since 1891, and Alberto Quazzo has been processing them under the name Tastelanghe since 2018.

The sweetest in the range

Among the four panned varieties, this is the one that satisfies you the fastest—in the best sense. Two or three pieces, and the craving for something sweet is satisfied.

That makes them the best choice for dessert when there is no formal dessert to be served: a small bowl with coffee, and no one will miss the cake.

They are the lightest in the range and therefore the ones that show signs of aging the most easily. If the surface becomes grayish or blotchy, it was too warm somewhere—usually fine in terms of taste, but a shame visually.

A question of temperature

White chocolate melts faster than dark chocolate because it lacks cocoa mass and consists almost entirely of cocoa butter and milk components. The shell therefore quickly becomes soft in a warm hand.

In summer, they belong in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator—moisture settles there and the surface becomes dull. A pantry on the north side of the house is the better spot.

Baked into a panettone or yeast pastry, they melt into white veins—an effect you cannot achieve with chopped chocolate alone.

In a crumble, they melt into sweet nests

A cappuccino in the afternoon is their perfect companion, as is a glass of Moscato d'Asti from the wine hills nearby. Coarsely chopped over fresh strawberries, they are a little treat in summer, and in a warm apple crumble, they melt into sweet nests.

They also work well over a berry salad, where their sweetness balances out the acidity. And they are the perfect counterweight to a really strong espresso.

You can find other specialties from Tastelanghe made with the same hazelnuts here—hazelnuts in caramel chocolate for warm dishes, white chocolate with whole hazelnuts as a bar, or other nuts from our range.