It’s not Christmas if it doesn’t appear at the table the nougat. Delight of dried fruit, sugar and wafer, loved by children and adults, it is inextricably linked to the Christmas period and can also be an excellent delicious gift idea. The name “nougat” comes from the Latin and means “to toast”: the reference is to the roasting of dried fruit, which can be of various types. Almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pistachios: some of the ingredients of this traditional dessert, whose origin is still uncertain. There are many types of nougat, coming from different areas, such as the Piedmontese nougat, the Cremona variety, the Venetian almond, the Abruzzo nougat, the Campania nougat, the Sardinian nougat. The recipe we propose presents honey, egg whites, almonds, hazelnuts, vanilla and wafer sheets, the classic “white nougat”, a sweet version that goes very well with a glass of Vinsanto or Passito.

Preparation

1

Pour the honey into a glass or steel bowl, suitable for cooking in a bain-marie. Heat some water in a saucepan and place the bowl containing the honey on it. Leave to cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

2

After 2 hours and 30 minutes, pour the sugar into a thick-bottomed saucepan and add the water. Bring the saucepan to the heat and cook for about 10 minutes on a low flame.

3

Toast the dried fruit in a preheated oven at 180° for 10 minutes.

4

With an electric mixer or a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff.

5

Leave the bowl with the honey to continue cooking in a bain-marie. Add the egg whites to the honey and mix gently with a whisk to mix the mixture.

6

Add the vanillin (or vanilla seeds, if you prefer) and the grated lemon zest.

7

Add the sugar syrup and water to the mixture. Stir and continue cooking in a bain-marie for another 10 minutes.

8

Place a sheet of wafer on a baking tray covered with parchment paper or in the appropriate nougat moulds.

9

Add the dried fruit to the mixture and mix well with a spatula. Pour the honey and dried fruit mixture over the wafer. (

10

Level with the spatula and cover with a second sheet of wafer.

11

Press lightly so that the sheets adhere well to the filling of honey, egg whites and dried fruit. Leave to cool completely, it will take about 5 hours. Finally cut into rectangles with a sharp knife.

Accessories

• Bowl
• Thick bottomed saucepan
• Electric hand mixer
• Whisk for sweets
• Tray or nougat moulds
• Sharp knife

Advice and tips

Store your nougat in the refrigerator for 7 days maximum.

The consistency of the nougat depends on the cooking time: if you want it softer, let the honey cook less.

You can vary the dried fruit, choosing other pieces such as walnuts, pistachios and peanuts. If you use salted pistachios you will have a pleasant variation.

History

Several cities in Italy claim the paternity of nougat. A legend tells that it was born in 1441 as a wedding cake for Bianca Maria Visconti and Francesco Sforza. Among the cities where it is believed to have been “invented” are Cremona and Benevento, both of which boast world-famous versions of the nougat. In Cremona, candied fruit is added to the classic nougat mixture with dried fruit and egg whites. In Benevento a particular type of nougat has been prepared since XVII centurywhich has become typical of the Christmas period under the reign of the Bourbonsin the 19th century: the soft white with almonds, but also the hard white again with almonds, or the crunchy nougat covered in chocolate.