Who can resist Baci chocolate --which befittingly means kisses in Italian.  Now you can make these chocolately, bite-sized crunchy goodness at home with the recipe from chef Vivien Reimbelli of Perugina, the over 100-year-old Italian bean-to-bar chocolate making company that makes the hazelnut confections.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. (50 grams) Gianduia chocolate (found at Eataly or online at Colavitastore.com)
  • 12 Whole hazelnuts
  • 1 Tablespoon ground hazelnuts
  • 3 oz. (80 grams) Perugina 51% cocoa dark chocolate, or other high quality chocolate

Preparation

Step 1:

In a food processor, blend the Gianduia chocolate and ground hazelnuts together at low speed until well blended and a paste is created.

Step 2:

Roll the paste into a rope (about the width of a wine cork). Cut into 12 cylindrical pieces.

Step 3:

Melt dark chocolate and heat to 104 degrees F. Drop ¾ of the dark chocolate onto a marble or steel table or flat surface. Temper the chocolate by melting it continuously with 2 spatulas, until the temperature has reached 80.6 degrees F. (If working with the spatulas feels awkward, this can also be performed by stirring constantly in a stainless steel bowl).

Step 5:

Add the ¼ of untempered chocolate to the tempered chocolate and mix well. The combined chocolate should have a temperature of 87.8 degrees F.

Step 6:

Place a whole hazelnut on top of of each cylinder of Gianduia.

Step 7:

With a fork, dip each nut-topped confection into the dark chocolate twice before placing it on a piece of wax paper. Let it rest for about 5 minutes, until the shininess has disappeared and the chocolate looks darker and crisp.