Kinder Bueno cream is a white chocolate and hazelnut filling that mimics the silky center of Kinder Bueno bars. It's made by mixing melted white chocolate and roasted hazelnut paste into chilled vanilla pastry cream. You can use it to fill cakes, cupcakes, choux puffs, or eat it straight from the bowl.
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Kinder Bueno bars are one of my favorite cheeky treats (crunchy, creamy, and super chocolatey with a strong hazelnut flavor). This recipe reproduces that creamy hazelnut filling and tastes just like the real thing. The secret ingredient is vanilla pastry cream, which makes the Bueno cream extra creamy.
You may have seen faster Kinder Bueno cream recipes that skip the pastry cream entirely, using just whipped cream, melted white chocolate, condensed milk, and hazelnut butter. This quick no-cook method is tempting, but I find it produces a filling that's too light and airy compared to the silky texture of actual Kinder Bueno bars. The pastry cream method takes longer (you need to make the pastry cream in advance), but the result is much closer to the real thing!
If you love hazelnut and white chocolate combinations, you'll also enjoy my Nutella Baklava Bracelets or take this cream to the next level with my Kinder Bueno Cheesecake.
💛 Hanelore's Note: As a European, we grew up obsessed with Kinder Bueno. And the best part of it is the cream filling inside, but it’s difficult to find in shops. This is why I made this recipe, which tastes identical to the filling inside the bar. I like to use it as a filling for my Kinder Bueno Cake or eat it on its own as a sweet treat!
What cream is inside a Kinder Bueno?
The filling inside Kinder Bueno bars is always the same for all Bueno treats, whether the outer shell is white, milk, or dark chocolate. Most people (me included) enjoy these bars specifically for their delicious cream filling. This recipe is a perfect copycat of the beloved Kinder Bueno filling.
Hanelore's Note
⚠️ Personal note placeholder — Hanelore to fill before publishing.
Ingredients you need
- Vanilla Pastry Cream — this is the base of the recipe. Also known as crème pâtissière, it's made from milk, cornstarch, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. I recommend using homemade, because the flavor is superior.
- White chocolate — use good quality white chocolate. White chocolate for baking is usually lower quality, so I don't recommend using it. I like to use for its amazing silkiness. Look for white chocolate with at least 28-30% cocoa butter content (listed on the label). Callebaut W2 at 28% cocoa butter or Valrhona Ivoire at 35% are excellent choices. Avoid anything listing vegetable fat or palm oil as a primary ingredient.
- Hazelnuts — you want hazelnuts that are good for roasting. Italian Piedmont hazelnuts (Tonda Gentile) have the most intense flavor and are what Ferrero uses in Nutella. Turkish hazelnuts are more affordable and work well, though slightly less aromatic. Either variety will produce excellent results.
- Soft brown sugar — used to give the hazelnuts a more caramelized flavor. If you do not have it, replace with regular granulated sugar. Alternatively, dark brown sugar works as well.
Making the perfect Kinder Bueno Cream
How to make hazelnut paste
- Place hazelnuts on a lined baking tray and roast in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 10-12 minutes or until they start to brown slightly. After roasting, let them cool down before handling. Once cooled, you can either leave the skins on or remove them. To remove, rub a handful of hazelnuts between your palms, so the skins can detach and fall off.
- Process the hazelnuts into a paste using a food processor or high-power blender. Adjust the crunchiness to your taste by leaving larger pieces. I like mine slightly crunchy but still smooth, with a consistency like wet, grainy sand with crunchy bits.
I've tested this extensively: process for 3-4 minutes in 30-second pulses, stopping when the paste looks like wet sand but before oil pools at the edges. Processing beyond 5-6 continuous minutes causes the hazelnuts to heat past 40°C and release oils that will make your cream greasy. Check the texture between pulses; once it looks like wet sand with a slight shiny finish, stop immediately. If it’s soft like melted ice cream, you've gone too far.
Making Pastry Cream
- Beat egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until pale and frothy.
- Heat milk with vanilla until simmering, then temper into the egg mixture by pouring in ¼ of the hot milk while whisking.
- Return everything to the saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until bubbling and thick (1–2 mins past boiling point).
- Whisk in butter, cover surface with plastic wrap, cool 30 mins then refrigerate 2+ hours.
Follow my guide to making Pastry Cream, where you can find exact quantities, method with step-by-step photos. I've included a troubleshooting guide so you can make the perfect pastry cream.
Putting the Bueno Cream together
- Melt the white chocolate: Melt in the microwave in small intervals of 15-20 seconds. Mix with a spoon between each interval to help the chocolate melt quicker. Once fully melted, let it cool down at room temperature until it's no longer warm (about 20-30 minutes).
- Combine everything: Place the chilled vanilla pastry cream in a large bowl. Add the melted white chocolate and hazelnut paste over the pastry cream. Use a hand mixer to incorporate everything well. Cover with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for 1 hour before using.
Tips for making the perfect Kinder Bueno cream
- Choosing the right white chocolate: Many recipes say any white chocolate works, but I've tested this with supermarket baking chips vs Callebaut W2 (28% cocoa butter). The cheap chips contain vegetable fats instead of cocoa butter and produce a grainy, less silky cream that doesn't emulsify as smoothly with the pastry cream. The difference is immediately noticeable in both texture and flavor.
- Perfect hazelnut cream: Do not over-process the nuts. Processing them for too long will make the hazelnuts heat up and release oil. We do not want an oily hazelnut paste for this recipe, as it can ruin the consistency of the cream.
- Make the pastry cream a day before: pastry cream tastes best after it's had time to rest. Making it in advance will make the flavors richer and the texture creamier.
- Softer texture: For a lighter hazelnut paste with fewer calories, you can replace ¼ of the roasted hazelnuts with MCT coconut oil or regular coconut oil. This makes the paste runnier and lighter, though it will taste less intensely nutty. Use this option if you want a softer, more liquid consistency.
- Creamier texture: if you want the cream to have a lighter texture and flavor, you can add some heavy cream. For the best balance, use a 2:1 ratio of Kinder Bueno cream to whipped cream. More than 50% whipped cream dilutes the hazelnut flavor too much and you lose that signature taste. Use double cream (48% fat) or US heavy cream (36% fat minimum); light cream or half-and-half won't whip to stiff peaks and will make the filling too loose.
How to use this cream
This creamy hazelnut filling works for any baked dessert that can hold a filling:
- Cake filling: ideal for my Kinder Bueno Cake. This recipe makes roughly 500g of filling, which is enough to fill and frost a two-layer 6" cake.
- Cupcake frosting: This recipe makes enough to pipe 12 large cupcakes or 24 small ones.
- Choux puffs or eclairs: This recipe can fill up to 40 cream puffs.
- Chimney cones: a match made in heaven for yeasted dough cones.
- On its own: just eat it with a spoon because it's so good!
Common questions
Yes, Kinder Bueno cream can be made 3-4 days in advance. Store in the fridge in an airtight container. When you're ready to use it, give it a good whisk or mix with a hand mixer to remove any lumps.
Press plastic wrap directly onto the cream surface with no air gaps. Refrigerate for up to 3-4 days. When you're ready to use it, give it a quick mix with a hand mixer to make the cream loosen up and become smooth.
No, this recipe is not suitable for freezing. Pastry cream contains cornstarch, which does not behave well when frozen. Freezing causes ice crystals to form within the pastry cream. When thawed, these crystals release water and causing a grainy, split texture.
No, store-bought custard is much runnier than pastry cream. Although the flavor will be similar, the overall consistency will be much thinner. You will not be able to use this cream as a cake filling.
No, you don't need a stabilizer. The pastry cream base is already stabilized with cornstarch, which gives it structure. Whipped-cream-based shortcuts often need gelatin to hold their shape, but this pastry-cream method doesn't require any additional stabilizers. That's one of the advantages of using a proper pastry cream base.
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Recipe
Kinder Bueno Cream Recipe
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- ½ batch vanilla pastry cream (approximately 350 grams or 12.3 oz.)
- 100 g roasted hazelnuts* (¾ cup)
- 20 g soft brown sugar (1 ½ tbsp)
- 50 g white chocolate, chopped (⅓ cup)
Optional, for a lighter cream
- 100 g double (heavy) cream (½ cup)
Instructions
- Make ½ batch of vanilla pastry cream (crème patissière), full recipe and ingredients can be found here. Only make ½ of the recipe indicated on the card (half of the ingredients).
- Place the roasted hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor or blender. Pulse them until they turn into a paste. You can adjust how crunchy or smooth you prefer it by processing it less or longer in the food processor. Set aside to use later.
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave in short intervals of 15-50 seconds. In between each interval give the chocolate a mix to help it melt quicker. Once fully melted, let it cool down to room temperature (about 20 minutes).
- Add the hazelnut paste and melted white chocolate to the pastry cream. Use a hand mixer to combine everything really well, then set it in the fridge to chill before using.
- Optional: for a lighter cream, whip up some double (heavy) cream to stiff peaks. Incorporate it into the Kinder Bueno cream for a lighter texture and creamier flavour.
Notes
- I recommend using a kitchen scale in grams for more accuracy. The cups used for the conversion are standard US customary cups (1 cup flour = 136g). There are many different types of cups across the globe, which is why I strongly recommend using grams instead.
- One batch of Kinder Bueno cream is enough to fill a 3 layer 8-inch cake or to decorate 12 cupcakes. One singe serving of cream is roughly 45g or ⅓ cup.
- If you only have raw hazelnuts, roast them in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 10-12 minutes. Rub the hazelnuts between your palms to remove some of the skins, or you can just leave them on.
Nutrition
About The Author
Hanelore is the creator of SugarYums and winner of Netflix show Crazy Delicious. She shares delicious Korean street food, East Asian desserts, and playful fusion recipes that bring global flavours to everyday kitchens. Inspired by the food markets of Seoul and beyond, Hanelore combines tradition with creativity to make cooking feel bold, cozy, and fun!
Pat says
This tastes amazing! What order chocolate bars could we use to mix it up?
Hanelore Dumitrache says
I'm so glad you liked it! You can get creative with the cream, for example if you want it to taste like Lion or Reese's you can use roasted peanuts and caramel as extra flavours. I will make some more flavour variations soon!
Jen says
I tried this on a smaller scale for cupcakes and they turned out absolutely fabulous!
Hanelore Dumitrache says
Oh I'm sure they must've been divine, so glad you liked it! 😍
Mary says
will this recipe work if i used Nutella instead of hazelnut?
Hanelore Dumitrache says
Hi Mary, I haven't tested this recipe with Nutella yet. Nutella tends to be quite soft as it has quite a lot of oil. You might be able to make this recipe with Nutella, but the risk is it might come out a little on the runny side. I suggest making a slightly thicker pastry cream (with 1-2 tsp extra cornstarch) and adding more white chocolate to counter that. Good luck and let me know how it comes out!
Sana says
Hello! I wanted to make this cream as a filling for my friends birthday so I was wondering if the filling will be stable enough out of the fridge? As we will be cutting it outside after a few hours. Please reply.
Hanelore Dumitrache says
Hi Sana, as long as it's not too hot outside it should be okay for 1-2 hours. I recommend making the cream on the thicker side, so add more cornstarch (maybe 1-2 tbsp extra) when you prepare the vanilla cream. Even if it's thicker it will still taste delicious, but also make it more stable and less likely to melt or become too runny. I hope this helps!
Nicole Lawro says
I bought hazelnut butter (roasted hazelnuts that were already blended) how much of that would I mix with the remaining ingredients?
Hanelore Dumitrache says
Hi Nicole, thanks for the question! Ready made hazelnut butters sometimes have extra oil added, which makes them much runnier. so I recommend starting with 1/3 cup of hazelnut butter and adding a few more teaspoons if the cream is too thick. Let me know how it turns out please! 😊
Jcjoe says
Hello
Thank you so much for the great recipe,I’m wondering can the cream be used as a cookie stuffing?would it hold in the oven?
Thank you in advance
Hanelore Dumitrache says
Hi there, thanks so much for stopping by! Yes, you can use the cream as cookie stuffing. However, I recommend making the Kinder Bueno cream a little thicker, so it holds better without seeping out of the cookies. To do this, add a little more cornstarch to the vanilla cream base and skip the butter (as it can make it go soft when baking).
I hope this helps and happy baking!
Han 🙂