Torrone (Italian Nougat)
Ingredients
- 3 cups roasted almonds
- 1 cup roasted pistachios
- 1 ⅓ cups honey
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Prep
- Lightly coat the inside of an 8x11-inch baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Line the bottom and sides with parchment paper, then lightly spray with oil.
- Toast the nuts: heat the oven to 350ºF and toast the nuts in a rimmed baking sheet until golden, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn off the oven.
- Add lemon zest and vanilla extract to the nuts.
- Place egg whites and salt in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- In a small saucepan add the 1 cup and 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 cup of water around the edges of the pan
- In another small saucepan add the honey and clip a candy thermometer to the side.
Nougat
- Beat the room temp egg whites on medium low speed. Keep egg whites foamy, pre-soft peak stage.
- Meanwhile, heat the sugar and honey over medium high heat, stirring to prevent the honey from burning until the temperature reaches .
- When the honey reaches 310ºF, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir until the temperature dips to just under 300.
- With the mixer on high, very slowly stream the honey down the side of the bowl avoiding the whisk.
- Increase the speed to high and beat until the sides of the bowl at warm and the mixture is very thick, dense and voluminous, about 4-5 minutes.
- Turn off the mixer and remove the bowl. Hand fold in the warm nuts, zest, and vanilla and mix until the nuts are evenly distributed.
- Oil utensils and your fingers to prevent sticking
- Scrape the nougat into the pan, quickly spreading evenly to all corners of the pan and smoothing the surface, and topping with a lightly sprayed piece of parchment paper. Let sit at room temperature until set, at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
- Cut into rectangles, oiling your knife to prevent sticking. Wrap rectangles in cut parchment paper. You can refrigerate it for 30 min to firm up before cutting.