madbaker | Easter Candy. You know you want it.

Les Noisettes Trois-Freres
(Chocolate-Covered Hazelnuts)

8 ounces whole hazelnuts
1/4 cup baking soda
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Place 3 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the nuts and baking soda, and boil (gingerly) for three minutes. (Did you know that hazelnuts foam pink? I didn't.) Drain and peel the nuts. Toast nuts at 350 for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely.

Break the chocolate into pieces and place 6 ounces into a double boiler. Simmer the water underneath and stir the chocolate until melted. Remove the double boiler from the water and add the remaining 2 ounces chocolate into the melted stuff, stirring continuously until it reaches 88 to 91 degrees. Stir the hazelnuts into the chocolate a handful at a time, and, using a spoon, lift out three coated nuts at a time onto a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Let cool until the chocolate dulls and they can be lifted from the wax paper without sticking. Store airtight.

(The baking soda apparently helps peel the nuts, as well as imparting a golden color to the toasting process.
The name translates to "Three Hazelnut Brothers" because they're joined together, you see.)

What worked: Yummy chocolate-nut candies.
What didn't: Um, pretty happy with it.
Will I make it again? Not sure. It was an awful lot of work for something remarkably similar to what See's Candies sells. If I was giving these out as presents, I'd have to invest a huge amount of time making them (and they'd likely be undervalued, because of the See's factor.)