Walnutella chocolate spread made with Ibarra chocolate

With great trepidation, I just moved Cooking in Mexico from Blogspot to WordPress. It’s like moving from one house to another with some of the accompanying angst. Would anything get lost in the move? When I unpacked the boxes, there were my posts and photos, all intact. What a relief! Now I just hope I don’t lose subscribers or Google ranking. Time will tell.

Yesterday, while still nervous about the move, I eyed the box of Ibarra chocolate, my favorite Mexican chocolate, inexpensive and available in every small grocery store. Nutella came to mind, that delicious, nutty chocolate spread that is so wonderful to eat right out of the jar with a spoon.  A few minutes later, I had a jar of Walnutella sitting on my kitchen counter (I should copyright the name).

Walnutella 

• 2 disks (6.2 oz./180 grams) Ibarra chocolate

• 11 oz. (310 grams) shelled walnuts

• 2 teaspoons toasted walnut oil

• 1 pinch sea salt

1. Roughly chop chocolate. As Ibarra is hard, make this easier by warming in the micro-wave oven for 20-30 seconds until soft, but don’t melt it.

2. Blend chopped chocolate, walnuts, walnut oil and salt in a food processor until smooth. The coarse sugar crystals in the Ibarra chocolate will not completely dissolve.

3. Pack into a jar and refrigerate.  Eat out of the jar with a spoon when no one is watching, or enjoy on toast.

Walnutella on Multi-Grain Toast

Now that I have the first post up on the new blog home, I feel better. I just hope Google can find me.

UPDATE:  Much later, in fact over two years later, I have reworked this recipe to reduce the sugar. Ibarra chocolate has been dropped, in favor of unsweetened cocoa. This way, it is easier to get a more pronounced chocolate flavor with less sugar. (May 7, 2012)

New Walnutella

• 2 cups walnuts (10 oz./ 280 grams)

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (1.5 oz./45 grams)

• 1 cup powdered sugar (4 oz./115 grams) OR honey or agave syrup to taste

• 3 tablespoons toasted walnut oil (or neutral tasting vegetable oil)

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Grind walnuts in food processor until almost smooth — about 3 minutes. Add remainder of ingredients and process until thoroughly blended. Scrape bottom of canister with a spatula to insure that all dry ingredients are incorporated, then process for 30 seconds more.  Store in refrigerator.