Pastry Chef Karen DeMasco of Craft, Craftbar and ‘Wichcraft – New York, NY
Adapted by StarChefs

Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients:

Hot chocolate base:
• 1 cup cream
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ corn syrup
• 1 cup hazelnuts, ground and toasted dark
• 1 pound dark chocolate (Chef DeMasco prefers Valrhona or Scharffen Berger 1% - 71%)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt

Hazelnut milk:

• 1 quart milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup hazelnuts, ground and toasted dark

Garnish:
• Cream, whipped to soft peaks
• Chopped toasted hazelnuts

Method:
For hot chocolate base:
In a small saucepan, bring cream, milk, corn syrup and nuts to a boil. Once the mixture has boiled, chill it over an ice bath and then strain out the nuts. Return the strained cream mixture to a saucepan and bring it to a boil again. Pour the hot cream over chocolate in thirds, mixing well before adding more. Add the vanilla and salt and allow the mixture to cool.

For hazelnut milk:
In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a boil with the sugar and nuts. Allow to cool and strain out the hazelnuts.

To assemble and serve:
For one cup, steam 2 heaping Tablespoons of the chocolate base with 1 ½ cups hazelnut milk with an espresso machine, or heat them together in a small saucepan. Garnish with whipped cream and toasted hazelnuts.