Hazelnut Snails

Hey foodies!

This week I wanted to share a recipe from our home country! :o) That's Switzerland, for those of you following from elsewhere.

I don't know about you, but when I go to a Swiss bakery, I very very very often choose a hazelnut snail because I absolutely love them! So it was about time I shared my homemade hazelnut snail recipe with you.

A hazelnut snail is a leavened dough (brioche) with a hazelnut and raisin filling, for those who like raisins.

For 15-18 hazelnut snails, you will need:

Leavened Dough

- 160gr lukewarm milk

- 35gr lukewarm water

- 7gr yeast (1 sachet)

- 65gr sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla flavouring

- 65gr eggs (1.5 eggs)

- 435gr flour

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 80gr butter at room temperature

Hazelnut Filling

- 300gr ground hazelnuts

- 2 tsp vanilla flavouring

- 2 eggs

- 60gr liquid honey

- 40gr sugar

- 130gr mascarpone

- 50gr heavy cream

- 60gr butter at room temperature

- 2 tbsp lemon juice

- 80gr dried white raisins

- 1 tsp cinnamon flavouring

Glaze

Apricot jam

You may or may not know this, but brioche dough requires two rises.

This means we will mix all the ingredients together, except the butter. Then we will add the butter and knead the dough for a good 10 minutes.

After that, we will let the dough rise for 30 minutes. We will then knock it back and place it in the fridge for 2h to overnight.

Once the 2h have passed, we will fill it, roll it up, and let it rise again in a proofing environment for 1h.

It sounds quite complicated but I promise it's actually super super simple.

You can easily prepare your dough one day ahead and leave it in the fridge.

Start by warming 160gr of milk and 35gr of water in the microwave for 20 seconds. The mixture just needs to be lukewarm.

Add 7gr of dry yeast (1 sachet) and mix lightly.

Then add 65gr of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla flavouring (yes, my trusty vanilla flavouring once again). :o)

Mix again, either with a spoon or directly in the stand mixer.

Then add 65gr of eggs, 435gr of flour and 1/4 tsp of salt.

Always remember to add the salt last so it doesn't come into contact with the yeast.

I then knead the ingredients at low speed until the mixture becomes a fairly smooth dough. This will take about 4-5 minutes.

There you go! Once your dough forms a ball, add 80gr of butter and knead for 10 minutes at medium speed.

It is very important to knead for a long time because the gluten needs to work and develop. This is how you will get a lovely light and airy dough.

Once the dough is smooth, supple and there is almost no residue left on the sides, it's ready!

Cover the bowl with a damp cloth (do not place the cloth on the dough) and set the bowl in a room-temperature spot for 30 minutes.

The dough will double in size.

Now we are going to knock back our dough as it has accumulated a lot of air.

So I give it a few punches.

You will see the dough lose a little volume and air bubbles will escape when you hit it. That's normal!

Punch it about ten times or so.

Once knocked back, cover your bowl again with the damp cloth and place it in the fridge for a minimum of 2h to overnight. You can safely leave the dough in the fridge overnight.

While our dough is chilling, let's prepare our hazelnut filling.

In a bowl, add 300gr ground hazelnuts, 60gr butter at room temperature, 60gr liquid honey, 40gr sugar, 130gr mascarpone, 50gr heavy cream and 2 eggs.

Also add 2 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of cinnamon flavouring or, if you prefer, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon.

I used lime juice but regular lemon juice works just as well, and a fresh lemon would be even better, but I didn't have one on hand.

The lemon will give a nice zing to our hazelnut filling. :o)

Whisk everything together for 2-3 minutes until well combined and smooth.

Finally add 80gr of dried white raisins and fold in with a spatula.

I used white raisins as I find them moister and therefore better for this recipe.

Set the filling aside in the fridge while we wait for the leavened dough to be ready.

Great! Our dough has spent at least 2h in the fridge and we are ready to continue!

Take your leavened dough out of the fridge and knead it by hand for a minute to make it a bit more supple and easier to roll out.

Then place it on a baking sheet and grab a large rolling pin.

Lightly dust your dough with flour if you find it sticking a little.

Then roll out your dough to approximately 3 or 4 mm. Here I used my 3 and 1.5 mm guide sticks. But I recommend going to 3 mm so the dough is even thinner.

Try to make as even a rectangle as possible.

Once the rectangle is ready, spread the filling over your dough.

Spread it evenly using an offset spatula.

Once the filling is evenly spread, roll your dough lengthways.

Then cut 3 cm slices with a bread knife.

This will give you between 15 and 18 snails.

Place the snails on a perforated baking tray lined with a perforated mat. Yes, I almost always use my perforated equipment. :o)

I placed 9 snails per tray. So make two trays.

Our leavened dough still needs to puff up a little... So we'll help it rise more quickly.

Place your two trays in the turned-off oven with a bowl of very hot water at the bottom of the oven. Close the oven (still turned off) and let your snails rise for 20-30 minutes. This is called proofing.

Remove the bowl of water from the oven but leave your snails inside.

Turn your oven to 200°C, fan-assisted and bake your snails for 20-25 minutes. There is no need to preheat the oven.

Once the snails are baked, take them out of the oven and immediately brush them with apricot jam.

Don't be shy with the jam. :o)

And here is the result!

If you don't like raisins, leave them out. Or replace them with small pieces of apple.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! We ate the snails over two days with no problem at all, so don't hesitate to make the full recipe.

Have a great Sunday, foodies!

Karin

P.S.: All the equipment used can be found at the bottom of the recipe.