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Nutella

Since its first iteration as a ‘pastone' or pastry mesh made of chocolate and hazelnuts, Nutella has come a long way. Today, it is the best-selling spreadable cream in the world, with 3,65,000 tons manufactured every year. In 2017, two Italian bloggers decided to commemorate Nutella by creating a worldwide day of celebration on February 5.

Hazelnut cookies. Pics/Instagram

Good for you?
As per a 2018 study by Healthline, Nutella contains 70 per cent saturated fat and processed sugar by weight. A two-tablespoon (37 gm) serving of Nutella contains 200 calories, including, 99 calories from 11 grams of fat (3.5g of which are saturated) and 80 calories from 21 grams of sugar. Experts also warn that it has a very elevated Hedonic breakpoint, or the point at which sugary foods start tasting too sweet to be enjoyable. The addition of hydrogenated palm oil masks the taste of sugar so that you can eat more of the chocolate spread without feeling overwhelmed.

Chocolate Nutella cake

Eating Nutella regularly has been found to raise triglyceride levels and lead to weight gain. Although many home chefs have created their own versions of the spread using cleaner ingredients such as whole hazelnuts, dates and cacao, portion control is still important as the spread will still be very calorie dense.

Ginny Shah

Switch it up
While the classic way to devour Nutella is on a slice of bread or by the spoon, chef Ginny Shah recommends combining it with crunchy peanut butter and chopped nuts, and using this to stuff sweet samosas. Alternatively, you could swap Nutella with the cinnamon-sugar mix in cinnamon rolls or use it as a quick frosting for chocolate cake, says Natasha Clemi, a chef and food stylist.

Natasha Celmi

Homemade No-tella
Ingredients
>> Hazelnuts - 1 cup
>> Cacao powder - 2 tbsp
>> Honey - 2.5 tbsp
>> Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
>> Salt - 1/8 tsp

Method
>> Toast the hazelnuts until golden.
>> Grind into a butter.
>> Add the other ingredients.
>> Store at room temperature.

- Karishma Sakhrani, recipe developer