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Montélimar, capital of the country of almonds, used these dried fruits to make the nougat of inspiration Spanish (the turron, itself known since the Arab occupation). The Nougat of Montélimar contains almonds and pistachios, roasted to the heart, in a paste of sugar, honey and egg white. The almond trees of Montélimar, come at the beginning from plantations made by Olivier de Serres in the XVIIth, but the recipe of the nougat, such as we know it today dates from the XVIIIth century. I give you a recipe of this famous nougat. The only difficulty lies in finding the ingredients used (among others, the unleavened bread sheets, glucose syrup, dehydrated whites …). But you can find a lot of things on the internet or at G Detou in Paris. Apart from that, the recipe I’m proposing is simple and can be made in 40 minutes. The nougat keeps well, we can serve it in small pieces with the coffee…
Recipe of the Nougat of Montélimar (for a frame of 22X22X3,5):
-90g of tempered egg white
-the tip of a knife of cream of tartar
-10g of egg white
dehydrated
-470g of honey
-600g + 25g of sugar
-150ml of water
-130g of glucose syrup
-400g of blanched almonds
-200g of pistachio nuts
-200g of cocoa butter
-2 sheets of unleavened bread
-the tip of a knife of cream of tartar
-10g of egg white
dehydrated
-470g of honey
-600g + 25g of sugar
-150ml of water
-130g of glucose syrup
-400g of blanched almonds
-200g of pistachio nuts
-200g of cocoa butter
-2 sheets of unleavened bread
Start by cooking the sugar, glucose syrup and water in a saucepan over moderate heat at first. We have to cook the syrup at 156°C, so we have time!
When baking, brush with water to dissolve sugar spatters.
Put the honey to cook in another pan. The choice of honey is essential in this recipe. It is him who gives the taste to nougat!
Bring the honey to 121°C.
Cut the unleavened bread sheets to the size of the frame used. For this recipe, I use a 22X22X3,5cm frame. The whole thing should be about 2000cm cubed in volume.
Preheat the oven to 180°C and when it is hot, place the almonds on a baking sheet for 5-6 minutes.
When the honey boils, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar and the dehydrated white .
Let it run for 2-3 minutes on low speed to break up the whites. Then go up to full speed.
When the snow begins to be firm, add the 25g of sugar to “tighten” the whites.
When the honey reaches 121°C (on the picture we are almost there!)…
Pour it on the edge of the mixer bowl on moderate speed.
While the sugar reaches 151°C, let it turn on low speed.
When the almonds have cooked for 6 minutes, add the pistachios and return to the oven for 9 minutes.
During this time, the sugar should normally approach the desired 156°C.
Put back on moderate speed then pour the boiling sugar on the edge of the bowl. Let the time for the following operations grow…
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Melt the cocoa butter in a small saucepan.
It goes quite fast but we have time because the nougat is still very very hot!
When the butter is melted and the dried fruits are roasted to the core, remove the whisk from the bowl…
And replace with the leaf (that’s the “k” in kenwood or kitchenaid).
Check the roasting of the almonds and pistachios.
Then add them while still very hot to the meringue, leaving on slow speed.
When everything is well mixed, add the melted cocoa butter in a stream.
When the nougat is well homogeneous and still very hot, pour it in the frame with a sheet of unleavened bread in the bottom.
Add a second sheet (braces side out).
Let completely cool the nougat. Then roll with a rolling pin to smooth it out.
Remove the frame by passing a knife around it.
Cut into the chosen shapes and keep in a cool place under cling film because nougat is not good with humidity!
