I've just peeled 3lbs of hazelnuts by blanching them with baking soda. Here's a GREAT video showing what I did: Hazelnut Peeling (close the ad if you watch the video). My plan is to let them dry for a couple of days on a rack, toast them and then freeze them. That's fine except that I want 25g (approximately 1oz) of hazelnut flour tomorrow for a genoise type cake I'm giving as a gift in about 48 hours. I'm afraid to toast the hazelnuts while they're still damp from blanching (or would that be OK?) Obviously they need to be completely dry before I grind them. I'm not even sure if I should toast them before grinding them into flour. Should I?
It's a little nuts (so to speak), but I only need a handful of dry nuts right away - What about tying them up in some cheesecloth and tossing them in the dryer with a few dry towels? Would that work? Of course that still leaves me with the other question, should I toast them before grinding into flour?