Fluffy Vanilla Nougat Recipes

SOFT VANILLA NOUGAT

Steps:

• 1 Put the ice in a medium bowl and set aside.
• 2 Put the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and set aside.
• 3 Stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil without stirring until the mixture reaches 235°F/114°C on a candy thermometer, about 6 minutes.
• 4 Begin whipping the egg whites on low speed for about 1 minute, just until they are a little frothy. Continue cooking the sugar syrup until it reaches 245°F/118°C. (If your temperature goes higher, shock the syrup by setting the pan in the bowl of ice.) Pour a splash of the syrup into the egg whites, aiming for the space between the rim of the bowl and the whisk attachment. Continue whisking as you slowly add the rest of the hot sugar syrup. Increase the mixer speed to medium and whip until the nougat reaches a full, frothy foam, about 2 minutes.
• 5 Add the vanilla seeds and salt to the nougat. Keep whipping until it forms stiff peaks, about 3 minutes more. Allow to cool in the bowl. Once it is at room temperature, it's ready to use in candy-bar production.

FLUFFY VANILLA NOUGAT

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
• Use a clean, dry stand mixer to whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with 2 tablespoons of the sugar. In the mean time, in a small saucepan, over medium heat, bring the honey to 250F on a candy thermometer. Also, at the same time, in a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 2 3/4 cups sugar, water, and corn syrup (if using). Over medium heat, bring this mixture to 300F on a candy thermometer. Carefully and gently swirl the mixtures in their pans now and then, use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush any sugar from the sides of the pan. You want the honey to hit its temp first, followed by the sugar shortly thereafter.
• With the mixer running, slowly pour the 250F honey down the side of the bowl into the egg whites. Let the mixer keep running, and as soon as your sugar mixture hits 300F, slowly pour the sugar mixture into the bowl as well, using the same technique (down the side of the bowl). Continue mixing for five minutes or so, until the temperature of the nougat is no longer hot. At this point, stir in the vanilla bean seeds and extract. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and fold in the nuts and seeds by hand.
• Transfer the nougat onto the parchment-line baking sheet, cover with another sheet of parchment and allow to cool completely. Cut into desired shapes (the cleaner you can keep your knife the cleaner your cuts will be), and wrap in squares of parchment paper, or candy wrappers. Store in an air-tight container.

CLASSIC NOUGAT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Scatter the nuts over a baking tray and toast in the oven for 10 mins, then set aside (they don't need to cool). Cut the two pieces of rice paper to fit a 20 x 20cm square tin. Line the tin with one sheet of rice paper, brush the sides of the tin with oil, then dust the tin with icing sugar.
• Put the honey into a saucepan, then in another saucepan tip in the sugar, glucose and 100ml of water. Put the egg whites in the very clean bowl of a tabletop mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk on a low speed. Heat and boil the honey until it reaches 121C on a digital cooking thermometer, then straightaway pour the honey over the egg whites and set the speed to medium. While the whites and honey are whisking, bring the sugar and water to the boil and keep boiling until the syrup reaches 145C exactly on a digital cooking thermometer. Pour the hot syrup in a slow, steady stream into the beating egg white mixture. Continue beating for about 10 mins until you have a thick, glossy, firm meringue. It's hard to over-whisk at this stage but easy to under-whisk, so keep going until the meringue looks like sticky chewing gum.
• Use a spatula to stir though the nuts (which should still be warm), the vanilla extract and a small pinch of salt. Scrape the mixture into the lined tin, then smooth over to spread the mixture out evenly (if you have an offset spatula, now is the time to use it). Finally, top with the remaining sheet of rice paper and press down. Leave the nougat to set for at least 2 hrs or overnight.
• To turn out and portion, use a spatula to loosen the edges of the nougat away from the tin, then invert the tin on to a clean board and use a sharp serated, hot knife to portion into bars or squares. The nougat will keep, stored in an airtight container, for up to a month.

FRENCH ALMOND NOUGAT

Steps:

• Begin by making the mazetta: Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff; set aside. In a 1-quart saucepan, combine corn syrup, 1/4 cup water, and sugar. Clip on a candy thermometer. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until temperature reaches 242 degrees (soft-ball stage), 15 to 20 minutes. Remove sugar syrup from heat. Beating constantly on medium speed, slowly pour hot syrup into egg whites. Continue beating for 3 to 4 minutes until syrup is incorporated. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to make the nougat.
• Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable-oil spray; set aside. Place mazetta in a large bowl; set aside. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine corn syrup and sugar. Clip on candy thermometer. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, 5 to 10 minutes. Wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals.
• Over medium-high heat, cook to 280 degrees (soft-crack stage), 12 to 15 minutes, without stirring. If heat is too high, it can boil over, so watch carefully. Remove from heat; let stand for 2 minutes. Without scraping pan, pour syrup over mazetta. Working quickly, stir with a wooden spoon until almost smooth. Stir in butter, vanilla, and salt. Mix until butter is incorporated. Stir in nuts. Scrape into prepared pan, and smooth the top; you may spray your hand with vegetable-oil spray and run it over the warm candy to smooth it. Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until firm, 4 to 6 hours.
• Spray a large cutting board generously with vegetable oil spray. Unmold nougat from pan onto sprayed surface. Cut nougat into 3-by-1-by-3/4-inch pieces or other desired shapes. Wrap each piece in cellophane or waxed paper.

CRUNCHY PEANUT CARAMEL NOUGAT CANDY BAR

Steps:

• Spray a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches of overhang on each side.
• For the nougat: Combine the peanut butter, vanilla and marshmallow cream in a large mixing bowl and reserve. Combine the sugar, cream and butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir with a heatproof spatula until the sugar dissolves. Fit the saucepan with a candy thermometer and continue monitoring until the mixture starts to turn a light amber color and the temperature reaches 250 degrees F, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Once your nougat hits 250 degrees F, remove from the heat and add to the marshmallow mixture. Mix together to completely combine, but don't overwork. The mixture should be light and fluffy. Turn out the nougat into the prepared pan and spread evenly with a rubber spatula coated in nonstick spray. Place in the refrigerator to cool and get going on your next layer, the caramel.
• For the caramel filling: Add the sugar, cream and corn syrup to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Carefully stir to combine with a heatproof spatula until the sugar dissolves and bring the mixture to a boil. Stop stirring and boil until the mixture begins to turn an amber color and reaches 250 degrees F, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, carefully, as it will foam up. (Adding the butter at the end will stop the cooking and keeps your caramel soft and chewy.) Keep stirring until it's all dissolved, and then stir in the peanuts. As tempting as it may be, never stick your finger in hot caramel to taste, sugar burns and hurts!
• Pour the caramel over the nougat and spread evenly with the spatula. Place in the refrigerator until the caramel is completely cool, 15 minutes.
• Transfer the candy to a cutting board. Cut lengthwise into thirds and then across in nine 1-inch rectangles, using a sharp knife that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. You can mark the caramel nougat with your knife as a guide before cutting out your bars.
• For the chocolate: Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and is smooth, 8 to10 minutes. Dip each candy piece and completely cover with chocolate on all sides, using two forks, allowing the excess to drip off. Place on a wire cooling rack for the excess to drip off while you dip all of the bars. Once the bars are dipped, transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and allow the chocolate to set in the fridge at least 20 minutes.

FLUFFY VANILLA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 8-inch round cake pans.
• Cream sugar and butter together in a large bowl using an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Stir in vanilla extract.
• Combine flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add to butter mixture and mix well. Stir in milk until batter is smooth. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.