We can taste nougat at any time of the year, if we love it, but in Cremona and in other cities of your country, nougat is the typical dessert of the Christmas holidays. Protagonist of the nougat of Cremona it is a filling based on almonds and / or toasted hazelnuts.
Nougat is not only a nice dessert to bring to the table at Christmas and during the holidays but also a nice proposal to prepare a gift with your hands to offer to family and friends. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?
If you want to try prepare Cremona nougat at home, here she is prescription and the instructions to follow.
Ingredients
300 grams of acacia honey
300 gr of brown sugar
600 gr of shelled almonds and / or hazelnuts
100 gr water
3 egg whites
Sheets of wafer for pastry
Orange and lemon peel
Preparation
The preparation of the homemade nougat from Cremona it requires some time available and patience as regards the part relating to honey. The latter should be left to soften in a bain-marie for 90 minutes to 2 hours, stirring occasionally so that it does not stick to the saucepan.
To check if the honey is ready, you need to drop a drop into a bowl of cold water. If the honey solidifies in contact with water, it means that it is ready and that you can proceed with the preparation of the nougat.
In the meantime you can toast the almonds and hazelnuts in the oven or in a pan. In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water and form the caramello, keeping the flame low so as not to risk burning it.
Apart, in a bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. At this point add the honey. Mix the egg whites and honey well, continuing to cook in a bain-marie for a few minutes.
To the preparation also add the freshly prepared caramel, whole or chopped toasted almonds and hazelnuts, grated orange and lemon peel (or candied fruit, if you like). The important thing is to choose organic citrus of which you can eat the rinds without problems.
Some recipes for the preparation of nougat include adding vanillin (a sachet) but if you are looking for a natural alternative, you can opt for the organic vanilla powder in the amount of one or two tsp.
Work the mixture well to make it homogeneous before it solidifies and pour it into rectangular molds whose bottom you will have covered with pastry wafers. You can also cover the top of the nougat with the wafers.
Be careful to level it very well. If you don't have the pastry wafers available, replace them with some baking paperotherwise the nougat will stick to the bottom of your mold. To flatten your nougat you can let it rest under a weight (for example, use a wooden cutting board on which to place a pack of flour).
Let the nougat cool before taking it out of the molds, cutting it and enjoying it or packing it for your own Christmas gifts.
Are you looking for a recipe to prepare vegan nougat? Here all the instructions.
Read also:
Homemade vegan nougat
Christmas sweets: the recipe for homemade white nougat
Semifreddo with nougat and panettone
