Turron de Alicante Recipe (Spanish Hard Almond nougat)

Step 1

Start by toasting the almonds on a tray in the oven. I usually start with the oven cold and turn it on to around 375ºF, letting the almonds warm up with the oven. Occasionally turn them, and turn the oven off when they start to turn a golden brown. You don't want to burn them!

Step 2

Mix together the honey and sugar in a pan over low heat, and stir until the sugar is dissolved and well incorporated into the honey. If you have a candy thermometer, get it to somewhere between 240-250ºF (115-120ºC) before taking it off the heat. At this point, the temperature isn't too important because we will be adding more moisture from the egg white, but by reducing the moisture content right now, you'll save yourself a bit of time later.

Step 3

Beat the egg white until frothy.

Step 4

As you continue to beat the egg white, slowly drizzle in the hot honey and sugar mixture. This will whiten the sugar solution, and give you a thick, white, sticky mixture that will be the base of the nougat.

Step 5

Add the white mixture back to the pan, and heat at a low to medium heat, stirring constantly so that it doesn't begin to burn.

Step 6

We are now working on reducing the moisture content of the candy mixture, and making it so that it will be hard and brittle when cooled. We're really taking it past the hard ball stage to more of a soft or, even better, a hard crack stage. That said, while the candy stages are normally measured with a thermometer, I've found that you will end up with a nice consistency before your candy reaches the high temperature normally called for in the crack candy stages. This is because we are heating the nougat mixture at lower temperatures, while constantly mixing rather than leaving it alone to get to a certain temperature. The moisture content is reduced without the temperature getting as high.

Step 7

To check to see when to stop cooking the candy, take a small amount and put it into cold water to cool it. It should get hard and hold its shape when cool. At that point, you can add in the toasted almonds, stirring until they are well incorporated into the nougat mixture.

Step 8

Immediately pour into silicone molds.You can optionally use wafer sheets below and above the nougat to keep them candy from sticking to everything. To use the wafer sheets, place one sheet in the bottom of the mold, pour some nougat mixture over it, and press another wafer sheet into the mixture.

Step 9

Remove from the mold when cool. I wrapped mine in parchment paper to keep it from sticking because I didn't have any wafer sheets. To store, wrap in plastic (covering with paper first to keep it from sticking), or an airtight container. Keep away from humidity to keep it from softening.