Geese and Hazelnuts

Christmas is coming, and the geese are getting fat, but I want to talk about hazelnuts. For this coming holiday season, we are making Hazelnut Balls, Hazelnut and Apple Galette, Hazelnut Biscotti, and Cranberry Orange Quick Bread with Hazelnuts. Don't forget that we have Hazelnuts in our Granola.

I love hazelnut’s complex flavor and texture. They are moist, buttery, and sweet; at the same time, they taste earthy with a touch of bitterness in the skin (as do most nuts). They have a very nice soft/crunchy mouth feel. I didn't really appreciate them until I discovered a small farm in Oregon as I surfed the web (Freddy Guys) that ships absolutely freshly shelled and freshly roasted hazelnuts. Hazelnuts store well in the shell but are best eaten shortly after shelling. When you are baking with them, roasting them first is critical because, inside a bread, they just steam and don't roast. As soon as I tasted a Freddy Guy’s hazelnut, I began to realize that most of the hazelnuts that I had eaten before were slightly rancid and not as sweet. If you happen to be in the bakery when we get a fresh shipment of hazelnuts, we will be happy to give you a taste.

Hazelnut balls are made with ground hazelnuts, 63% dark chocolate chips, and hazelnut liqueur. I prefer them to rum balls because they are smoother and more subtle (Alec agrees), and of course, hazelnuts and chocolate are a combination that no one can resist.

The Cranberry Orange Quick bread is a modest, humble loaf studded with hazelnuts and cranberries. I don't really know how such an ordinary-looking loaf can taste so good, but it will knock your sox off! Alec usually manages to taste test each batch while it is still warm from the oven.

Then there is the Hazelnut Galette. A rustic dish made with pie dough filled with hazelnut cream and apples. Hazelnut cream is basically butter, sugar, eggs, hazelnut liqueur, hazelnut flour, and wheat flour. The addition of apples makes it into a moist, nutty, fruity mixture. Another irresistible combination of flavors.

And don’t miss our Hazelnut Biscotti. Chopped Hazelnuts and Hazelnut liqueur make the base flavor. Then they are baked twice, first in a loaf form and then sliced and baked again.

Of course, we also have Chocolate Babka (Alec makes sure that these are just right by tasting a warm loaf in nearly every batch), Cranberry Walnut Bread, Coffee Cakes, Polenta Cake  (again, Alec taste tests these as well), Russian Tea Cakes, Stollen and lots of Rolls. As you can tell, Alec is taking his ownership of the bakery very seriously.

We look forward to seeing you and wish you the best celebration of your midwinter holiday. Don't forget to order early (please 'o please) and please know the we will close at 3 pm on Christmas Eve and reopen at 7:30 am, Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023. That way, we all get a rest and get to see our families.

Love,
Judy and Alec