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Epicurious

Chocolate-Hazelnut Napoleons

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Chocolatehazelnut Napoleon on a plate.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell

You could serve these napoleons—filled with chocolaty hazelnut crème and dotted with crumbles of hazelnut brittle—instead of baked Alaska or as a second dessert course. Weighting the puff pastry with an extra sheet pan while it blind-bakes is a classic way to get the crackle without the height and also gives the pastries a sleek, modern look.

This recipe was developed for Gourmet magazine's December 2009 issue. Unfortunately, Gourmet was shuttered before that issue was published. So in 2018, we dug up the entire Christmas menu and posted it here.

Cooks' Note

To mark the pastry decoratively, heat a long metal skewer over a gas flame until very hot, then “brand” pastry with skewers to form a cross-hatch pattern. Reheat skewer as necessary.

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