fruit and nut french nougat

French nougat is a long-time favorite of mine: love the major Terrazo vibes of the nut and fruit-studded cross sections. Crazy what some air and heat can do to egg whites, honey, and sugar!

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Montélimar Nougat

Course: DessertCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Medium
Servings

1

quarter sheet
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Resting Time

2-12

hours

These ingredients are based on Ryan Norbauer’s Nougat de Montélimar with inclusion ratios from Peter Greweling’s Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner.

Since Ryan Norbauer’s guide is so thorough, the below appends the recipe: it’s not considered a standalone reference.

Ingredients

  • Meringue
  • 50g fresh egg whites

  • 10g meringue or albumen powder

  • 30g granulated sugar

  • Sugar Syrup
  • 120g glucose syrup

  • 380g granulated sugar

  • Honey Syrup
  • 100g water

  • 380g honey

  • Other
  • 50g vanilla paste

  • 5-8 drops orange oil

  • 2 tablespoons orange zest

  • 50g confectioners’ sugar, optional (see “notes”)

  • Inclusions (see “table”)
  • 200g blanched slivered almonds, toasted

  • 70g whole raw or roasted almonds, toasted

  • 70g hazelnuts, toasted

  • 100g raw or roasted pistachios, toasted

  • 100g dried apricots, ¼” dice

  • 90g dried cranberries, rough chop

  • Candy Preparation
  • 2 sheets of wafer paper

  • Cornstarch, as anti-stick coating for hands and tools

Directions

  • Keep nuts and fruit warm in the oven at 150 degrees.
  • Follow instructions as written for meringue.
  • Follow instructions as written for sugar syrup. 135°C achieves a very soft nougat. If a firmer texture is desired, heat to just below 140°C.
  • Follow instructions as written for honey syrup.
  • Alongside the vanilla paste, add orange oil and orange zest.
  • Complete nougat per instructions.

Notes

  • Ryan Norbauer recommends the addition of confectioners’ sugar to create a fluffy texture instead of elastic. I used half the recommended 100g, and achieved a short texture.

Inclusion Table

Use this as a reference for customizing your own combination of nuts and fruits.

InclusionsGrams
Blanched slivered almonds, toasted200g
Whole raw or roasted almonds, toasted70g
Hazelnuts, toasted70g
Raw or roasted pistachios, toasted100g
Dried apricots, ¼″ dice100g
Dried cranberries, rough chop90g
Nuts440g
Fruits190g
Total630g
CategoriesFrench