Hazelnut Milk Jam

I am surprised that I have no pictures of the hazelnut milk jam making process. I am not surprised that I have no hazelnut milk jam pictures. I adapted this recipe from Christine Ferber's in her book Mes Confitures. In English, we usually use the term sweetened condensed milk. In French, the term is confiture du lait, which literally translates into milk jam. Since hazelnut sweetened condensed milk was too much of a mouthful, I stuck with the literal translation. While Ms. Ferber's recipe was quite tasty, the product wasn't very versatile. She leaves the nut pieces in the final jam. I will say, it is a decadent jam. However, I like this version because I can also put it into coffee or tea. It's also great over cakes or baked into apples. I basically adjusted the recipe using a gelato making technique to infuse the hazelnut flavor into the milk before sweetening it and condensing it. This is one of my favorite (and signature) recipes in my jam making arsenal.

Hazelnut Milk Jam
adapted from Mes Confiture

1 cup hazelnuts, toasted if you like
6 cups whole milk
4 cups sugar

1. Place hazelnut in a saucepan. Add enough of the milk to cover. Heat milk until it is steamy and really foamy. Cover, shut off heat, and let sit for at least one hour.

2. Strain milk into a measuring cup. Add enough whole milk to bring volume up to six cups. Pour milk into double boiler. (My double boiler is a big metal mixing bowl on top of a pot of simmering water.)

3. Add 4 cups of sugar to the milk. Stir to dissolve. Allow mixture to sit on top of simmering water, stirring occasionally, for about 4 hours. The milk will turn a lovely tan color. The jam won't be terribly thick while it's heating. Once it has cooled, it will thicken some, but still be pourable.

4. When the jam is finished cooking (turned lovely tan but not yet cooled), you can can it. I usually just put it into clean jars and put them in the refrigerator. However, it does can and keep just like any fruit based jam would.

What to do with your leftover milky nuts? I put them into cinnamon raisin bread. The most recent batch turned into pesto with parsley, radish greens, olive oil, and some really cheap parmesan.