Cioccolato da Taglio (Sliceable Chocolate Snacking Bar)

When I was a child, my grandmother would send us care packages from Italy. They usually consisted of good espresso beans, a few kinds of hard cheese, some hard candy, and a large bar of chocolate. This bar wasn’t a candy bar—it was a heavy, loaf-size chocolate studded with hazelnuts. The chocolate was just soft enough to cut into slices and eat by the piece or spread onto a slice of bread. I loved this bar, as it came in dark chocolate, white chocolate, or sometimes a combination of the two. I have never been able to find anything like it here in the States, so using a silicone loaf pan that the chocolate will not stick to, I started making it at home. I love adding a bit of texture to one of the layers, so French feuilletine or crispy rice cereal is mixed in. While it is sold commercially all over Italy, this snacking bar is prepared by chocolatiers on All Souls’ Day (November 2) in Naples.

Cioccolato da Taglio (Sliceable Chocolate Snacking Bar)

Anna Francese Gass

Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread

Growing up in an Italian American household, we didn’t have a lot of processed foods in the pantry. My mother didn’t buy them, so I wasn’t used to a cabinet full of packaged snacks. However, one item I could always count on was Nutella. It was our alternative to peanut butter. After a long day at school, I’d drop my backpack, grab a butter knife, and spread a generous amount of the chocolate nut spread on some bread.

Today, in a more health-conscious world, processed foods are something, when possible, we try to avoid in my house. So when my friend Lisetta gave me her recipe for homemade Nutella, I was elated. Not only is it void of palm oil and soy, but you can also control the amount of sugar and the ratio of milk to dark chocolate. Italians love Nutella, hence, chocolate-hazelnut spread is an ingredient in several recipes in this book. You can certainly use Nutella out of a jar, but give this homemade version a try.

Makes 3 cups

• 1-1/2 cups (205 grams) hazelnuts

• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

• 6 ounces (170 grams) high-quality milk chocolate

• 6 ounces (170 grams) high-quality dark chocolate, preferably 70% cacao

• 1 cup (227 grams) whole milk

• 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2) Place the hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant and golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes.

3) While the hazelnuts are toasting, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk and heat over low heat until the chocolate has completely melted.

4) Let the toasted hazelnuts cool for 10 minutes. Add them to a food processor and grind until they turn into a paste, similar to nut butter. Add the chocolate mixture to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine. With the motor running, slowly add the hazelnut oil and process until fully combined. Store the spread in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Italian

Servings 8 -10 servings (makes one 9-inch chocolate bar)

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1-1/4 cups chopped bittersweet chocolate
• 1-1/4 cups chopped semisweet chocolate
• 1 cup Chocolate- Hazelnut Spread (above)
• 2 cups chopped white chocolate
• 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup feuilletine flakes or crispy rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies

Instructions

 

• Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
• Find three heatproof medium bowls that will fit over the top of the saucepan to create a double boiler for melting the chocolate: Place the bittersweet chocolate in one bowl, the semisweet chocolate and 3/4 cup of the chocolate-hazelnut spread in the second bowl, and the white chocolate and remaining 1/4 cup chocolate hazelnut spread in the third bowl.
• Set the bowl with the bittersweet chocolate over the saucepan of simmering water. Stir gently until it has completely melted. Scoop out 1/4 cup of the melted bittersweet chocolate and set aside. Pour the remaining melted chocolate into a 9 × 3 1/2 × 2 1/2-inch silicone loaf pan. Using a small offset spatula or silicone pastry brush, spread the chocolate up all sides of the pan and evenly over the bottom to create a very thin layer (this will be the outer shell). Refrigerate to set the chocolate. 
• Set the bowl of semisweet chocolate and chocolate-hazelnut spread over the simmering water. When it has melted, add the hazelnuts and feuilletine and stir to combine. Take the loaf pan out of the fridge. (The bittersweet chocolate will have already begun to set.) Pour the melted chocolate-nut mixture into the loaf pan and spread it evenly over the bittersweet chocolate base. Return the pan to the refrigerator.
• Place the bowl of white chocolate and chocolate-hazelnut spread over the simmering water. When it has melted, stir to combine. Remove the loaf pan from the fridge and pour the melted white chocolate mixture over the chocolate-nut layer and spread it evenly. Return the pan to the refrigerator.
• Rewarm the reserved 1/4 cup melted bittersweet chocolate over the simmering water. Remove the loaf pan from the fridge and pour the melted bittersweet chocolate over the white chocolate layer; it should reach the top of the pan. Spread it evenly (this will be the bottom layer of the snacking bar). Return the loaf pan to the fridge once more and chill for at least 1 hour.
• When ready to serve, flip the pan onto a serving platter and carefully remove the pan from the snacking bar. Let the bar sit for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

Recipe reprinted with permission from Italian Snacking by Anna Francese Gass (Union Square & Co., 2024). Photography by Linda Xiao.

Keyword Anna Francese Gass, Bittersweet chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread, crispy rice cereal, feuilletine flakes, hazelnuts, Italian Snacking, Semisweet chocolate, White chocolate