Nutella, is as ubiquitous in Germany as peanut butter is in the US. It is considered a staple pantry item and, while both cheap knockoffs and fancy schmancy high-end versions are widely available, most buyers seem to remain loyal to the original. So, as soon as I saw this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Nutella Tartine, I predicted that I would have trouble passing it off as a dessert in my house. Sure enough, the resident german took one look and said, “Schatz, nutella on toast is breakfast, not dessert”.
So be it. When in Rome do as the Romans do right? Which I’m pretty sure means, when in Germany, serve nutella on toast for breakfast.
I should probably point out that Tartine is just a fancy French word for open-faced sandwich. So Nutella Tartine really does mean nutella on toast. But Dorie jazzes her version up a bit with a few unexpected extras.
She starts with brioche (my bakery was out of loafs), thickly sliced and toasted…
then smeared with orange marmalade… and drizzled with warmed nutella…
and finally sprinkled with toasted chopped hazelnuts & a pinch of sea salt…
Final verdict? Tasty. Surprisingly so considered the odd combination of ingredients. In fact, the german refused to allow any sea salt on his, but I found that it added a nice balance to all the sweet flavors. Another winning recipe from Dorie.
one expat's life 
I agree, this is in our country not a dessert kind of thing, so I served it with lunchtime. I do like Nutella and indeed it is à pantry staple.
This didn’t pass for dessert in our house either. My oldest daughter’s breakfast usually consists of Nutella on either a slice of toast or spread on a banana – lately I have even noticed her spreading it on orange and apple slices.
I ate mine for dessert but would gladly eat it for breakfast any day! I agree with you that the salt balanced the flavors beautifully.
Yours looks delicious! And, I wouldn’t mind having this for breakfast!
You know, if I only want to do one or two tartines for lunch, just buying a Brioche Bun (or, making it, of course) is a perfect solution. Pretty, also. Loved your opening paragraphs commenting on the love Europeans have for Nutella – the real deal. Enjoyed reading your Post this morning.
Something about your sentence, “The German refused to allow any sea salt on his” made me laugh. Back when I made this, I thought the salt was crucial to keeping it from being too sweet. I mean, it was plenty sweet, but the salt helped reign it in a little. I agree that it works better as breakfast or a snack than a dessert.
He is funny. He is generally such a good sport about trying all the “weird” recipes I make, but he does have his limits. Apparently salt on nutella is one of his limits 🙂
But I agree with you, without the salt it would have been too sweet.
Love this post and learned that tartine is not a word for toast…love how your brioche turned out. And Europeans really do eat this for breakfast…I’m glad Nutella has become more popular here over the past few years.
The brioche looked so pretty sliced that way – like a Nutella flower!
Thanks. Wish I could take credit, but I have to give that to my local bakery. They do a great job.
Looks beautiful – I didn’t really think it looked like a dessert when I was making it. Seemed really like a gloried version of PB & J on toast – what do I know though?
I’m hooked on sweets with salt. I always liked yogurt and chocolate pretzels, but it has gone downhill since I discovered salted caramel. I love the edges in your bubbly brioche.
I’m a sweet and salty fan too, but my husband is apparently more just a sweet fan. I often refer to him as ”the sweet tooth” so I guess this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
I agree Nutella Tartine is best for breakfast! Your tartine looks so delicious served on that brioche;-)
The pretty little baby brioche is a perfect vehicle for the nutella, jam, etc. I liked it as a mid-afternoon snack, but I didn’t feel like eating dinner later. (Which is not necessarily bad).
Wow. I’d almost take the brioche on it’s own! Looks so good in it’s final state! 🙂
I agree. Brioche smeared with butter and jam is one of my all time favorite breakfasts. But Dorie’s recipes wasn’t too bad either 🙂
i thought the combo sounded odd at first, too, but it was certainly tasty!
Yeah, I don’t think anyone’s falling for the idea that this is dessert. Still it makes a tasty snack or breakfast. I envy how easily you can find hazelnuts. We had them at Christmas time but they seem to have disappeared!
It’s just funny to me. Finding hazelnuts here in Germany is a non-issue. I was actually very jealous of your chopped pecan topping, because finding pecans in Germany is quite another story.
Ah, I should have added some sea salt. I did find it rather sweet, and that would have been excellent. Next time.
I love that you cut the tete de brioche crosswise. The scalloped edges of the round look so pretty! Of course this is breakfast. 🙂 I wouldn’t pass this off as dessert either at my house! Oooo, Bonne Mamam marmalade too. Great choice!
This looks lovely and so pretty. I love how you plated it. I think citrus and chocolate go wonderfully together especially bitter citrus. And I’ll eat Nutella at any time of the day.
Your round toasts look so pretty. That looks like a pretty good breakfast to me!
I think your round toast with scalloped edges looks very dessert-like. It looks sort of like a tart. While this wasn’t my favorite, I definitely thought the salt added to the overall flavor combo.
I liked the salt on it too, and really enjoyed it.
Too funny the cultural differences because I was the polar opposite. My younger son has been trying to convince me that Nutella for breakfast is a viable option yet it feels like he is asking for something along the lines of “chocolate fondue” or such…I can’t get past my notion that it is dessert. Regardless of their commericals showing a mom serving it for breakfast 🙂 But we all enjoyed it as the late night snack it ended up as. And I particularly loved the salt but since I adore chocolate covered pretzels…this is no surprise.
Still my favourite “un recipe” from AMFT. Love your pretty round toasts!
maybe it was fortuitous that the bakery was out of loaves, since your brioche slice out of the roll looks way prettier and totally delicious! 🙂
Now that you mention it, I think I would’ve been much happier with my nutella tartine for breakfast. It didn’t feel like dessert to me either!
Your tartine looks so pretty! I really enjoyed this as a snack with my tea but, thought it a bit too sweet! I liked the addition of the salt.