Hazelnut - Culinary Uses

Culinary Uses

Hazelnuts are used in confectionery to make some pralines, in chocolate for some chocolate truffles, and in some hazelnut paste products (such as Nutella). In the United States, hazelnut butter is being promoted as a more nutritious spread than its peanut butter counterpart, though it has a higher fat content. In Austria and especially in Vienna, hazelnut paste is an ingredient in the making of Tortes (such as Viennese hazelnut torte) which are famous there. In the Kiev cake, hazelnut flour is used to flavor its meringue body, and crushed hazelnuts are sprinkled over its sides. Dacquoise, a French dessert cake, often contains a layer of hazelnut meringue, and hazelnut is a primary ingredient of the vodka-based liqueur, Frangelico. Hazelnuts are abundantly used in Turkish especially Pontic coast of Anatolia and Georgian cuisine, traditional Georgian snack Churchkhela or sauce Satsivi are often cooked with hazelnuts (along with walnuts).

Hazelnut-flavoured coffee seems (to many users) to be slightly sweetened and less acidic, though the nut is low in natural saccharides. The reason for such perception is not yet understood.

In Australia, over 2,000 tonnes are imported annually, mostly to supply the demand from the Cadbury company. Hazelnut oil, pressed from hazelnuts, is strongly flavoured and used as a cooking oil. Hazelnuts are also grown extensively in Australia, in orchards growing varieties mostly imported from Europe. It is also grown in New Zealand and Chile.

Common hazel is used by a number of species of Lepidoptera as a food plant.