Bajadera Chocolate
This famous Croatian Bajadera praline nougat can be made at home and it will taste just as great as the store-bought one. Take your time and be precise to recreate the Bajadera style elegance.
Servings 12 people
Calories 480 kcal
Ingredients
Dough:
- 150 ml water (⅔ cup)
- 180 g sugar (¾ cup)
- 220 g butter, cubed (1 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla flavour
- 1 tbsp rum
- 350 g tea biscuits, crushed (¾ lb)
- 150 g hazelnuts, toasted, peeled and ground (2 cups)
- 130 g almonds, blanched and ground (1 ½ cups)
- 100 g dark chocolate, melted (3 ½ oz)
Icing:
- 150 g dark chocolate (5 oz)
- 5 tbsp oil, sunflower or canola
Instructions
- Prepare the nuts. Blanche the almonds and ground them in a nut mill. Roast hazelnuts, remove the skin and grind them. Do not use a blender or food processor because the nuts will come out too mushy.
- Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. At the same time place water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add vanilla flavour. Set the melted chocolate aside.
- Add the cubed butter into boiling sugar syrup and stir until it melts. Add rum and set aside.
- Combine crushed biscuits with both nuts - but set aside 20 g (1/2 cup) of hazelnuts. Make a little well in the middle and pour in the butter syrup. Mix with a spoon until you get a smooth dough.
- Divide the dough into equal parts. Use the scale for precision.
- Put the rest of the hazelnuts in one part and melted chocolate in the other.
- Divide the chocolate dough into 2 parts. To be super precise, 1 part should be twice as big as the other. In other words, weigh the chocolate dough and divide it by 3. Then make 1 part 1/3 and the other 2/3 of the mass.
- Coat the cake pan (27x23 cm) very lightly with melted butter. Place the bigger chocolate dough inside and spread it evenly with your fingers. Place a sheet of baking paper on top and smooth the layer by rolling your hand over it. Remove the paper.
- Add the light part of the dough. First sprinkle smaller bits of dough evenly across the pan. Smooth it out through the baking paper, then remove it.
- Put the smaller chocolate dough last. This may be the trickiest part because this layer is the thinnest. Sprinkle the dough first then smooth it out through the baking paper.
- Place the cake in the fridge for a few hours.
- Melt the chocolate and oil in a bain-marie. Pour the icing over the cake and wiggle the pan to spread it evenly. Pop it back in the fridge overnight.
- Cut bajadere in 2x4 cm size pieces. Use a Stanley knife to for best and most precise results.
- You can freeze bajadere for up to 3 months.