How to Make Ferrero Rocher-esque Chocolates

My boyfriend's mum LOVES Ferrero Rocher, but I feel like I haven't put any thought in when I present her with some on her birthday. They're also bloody expensive (although delicious!); the square box of 25 chocolates costs between £5.50 and £6.00.

So I got thinking about how I could make a more thoughtful gift for less. I adapted this recipe for a more frugal and easier approach to faking Ferrero Rocher. My recipe costs £4.30 for approximately 35 chocolates including cases, which makes each sweet almost half the price (12p per homemade chocolate compared to 27p each for true Ferreros). It's still not that cheap but it makes a lot more, so it might be worth splitting the chocolates into two gifts.

Fake Ferrero Rocher

- 75g ice cream wafers (1 pack of 48 Askeys ice cream wafers) - £0.70

- 100g chopped hazelnuts - £1.00 (you could make this cheaper by buying whole hazelnuts and chopping them up yourself after roasting them, but I would be missing fingers if I did!)

- 300g Nutella - £1.05 (£1.40 for 400g but you can use the rest elsewhere!)

- 200g milk or dark chocolate - £1.00

- Petit fours cases - £0.60 for 100 in Asda

1. Roast the hazelnuts on a baking tray for about 8 minutes at 180°C. Let them cool for about 5 minutes.
2. Crush the ice cream wafers by hand until the largest pieces are about 4mm in diameter. Add them to a bowl with the hazelnuts.
3. Mix in the Nutella (spoons don't work well so it's time to get your hands dirty!)
   
   
   
    
4. Put the mixture in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up.
5. Cool your hands in cold water, then roll the mixture into balls about 2cm in diameter. If the mixture starts sticking to your hands, dip them into cold water again before continuing.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a glass bowl above a pan of boiling water. As soon as it's melted take it off the heat.
7. Dip a ball into the chocolate to completely coat it, then place it into a petit four case on a baking tray. When they have all been dunked leave them in a cool place to set.
   
   
   
   
   

To present them as a gift, I coated the outside of a box with crepe paper and lined the inside with tissue paper. Then I just placed the chocolates inside the box in an air-tight container and finished it with a bow. (Bonus points because my cat loved the box!)