cranberry, pistachio & almond nougat

Gourmet Traveller has become hands down my favourite food magazine. Absolutely everything in it looks delicious and although they are sometimes slightly more time consuming recipes, or have somewhat obscure ingredients, you find that they are always worth the effort. Every month they have a 'masterclass' recipe which gives you a more detailed break down on how to cook a certain dish including an explanation as to why you need to follow certain steps. 

The masterclass recipe in the Christmas edition was this Gourmet Traveller recipe for cranberry, pistachio and almond nougat and I couldn't resist! Nougat for me fell under the category of something I hadn't really considered trying to make, however presented with the recipe I was amazed at how relatively simple it was, and the result surpassed my expectations!

This particular version of nougat is based on the traditional persian 'gaz'. The recipe specified the addition of both glace orange and orange juice, however I decided to leave these out as a personal preference and just increased the amount of almonds and water. You can of course substitute any of the fillings for your choice of nuts and dried or glace fruit. 

ingredients

     -   100g slivered pistachios
     -   100g dried cranberries
     -   100g almonds, coarsely chopped
     -   confectioner's paper
     -   230g honey
     -   60g egg whites (about 2 eggs)
     -   380g caster sugar
     -   120g liquid glucose

method

The masterclass recipe emphasises that timing is key, and that certainly held true. You really need to keep the temperature of the nougat up so that its workable. For this reason the first step is to preheat the oven to 100 degrees celsius and place in a baking tray with the pistachios, almonds and cranberries to keep warm, ensuring that they don't rapidly remove heat from the nougat mixture when added later. 

It is important to have as much ready before you start as possible so grease a 20 cm square cake tin and line the base of it with confectioners paper, shiny side down. Although I didn't do it this time around, I think next time I will probably line the sides of the tin too as it was quite difficult to remove the nougat. I also think it is best to place the rest of the ingredients in their cooking vessels before you begin; place the honey in a small saucepan, the egg whites in an electric mixer and the sugar, glucose and 100ml of water into another small saucepan.

Next place a sugar thermometer into the honey and place the saucepan over a medium-high heat. When the temperature reaches 108 degrees celsius, this should take about 3-4 mins, begin whisking the egg whites in an electric mixer. I was using a hand held beater which later made the process a definite two-man job, and I would definitely recommend using a free standing mixer instead. You can remove the honey from the heat once the temperature gets to 120 degrees celsius and stop mixing the egg whites which should have firm peaks. 

Transfer the sugar thermometer to the saucepan with the sugar mixture, place over a medium-high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Then bring the mixture to the boil and hold it until it reaches 155 degrees celsius, this should take about 12-15 mins. While this is happening gradually drizzles the honey into the egg whites with the beater on a low speed, once all the honey is added increase the beater speed. 

When the sugar syrup is up to temperature decrease the beater speed again and slowly add the sugar syrup. Once it has all been incorporated again increase the beater speed. The mixture will be pretty thick by this stage and very difficult to beat if you are using a handheld mixer. Continue to beat for a further 4 mins or until slightly cooled. Remove the nuts and fruit from the oven and add immediately to the mixture, stirring quickly to combine. 

Spoon the nougat mixture into the prepared tin and smooth it out with a hot palette knife or metal spatula. I started using a plastic spatula and realised this was a bad idea as it began to melt! Press confectioner’s paper over nougat to cover and trim to fit. Then place a cake tin on top of the nougat filled with pastry weights, or if you don't have a second tin cover with cardboard and stack food tins evenly on top. You should leave the nougat at least over night to set, although it will require more time in hot humid climates. Once set remove from the tin by running a hot knife around the edge and then use the hot knife to cut into your desired size.

Wrap or separate the nougat with baking paper. Nougat will keep stored in an airtight container for 3 months although if you live in a warm or humid place store in the fridge.