In the South of France there are two kinds of nougat: Nougatine which is dark and made with carmalized sugar and there is Nougat de Montelimar that is white because it is made with egg whites and softer than the Nougatine and full of the rich taste of honey, roasted almonds, and pistachios that both compliment the honey perfectly. This recipe is mostly about timing and does require some tools you may not already have lying around in your kitchen like a candy thermometer and stand mixer but both are worth investing in to create these wonderful treats. You will undoubtedly make them time and again and impress your guests with the authentic Nougat de Montelimar from the South of France.

Nougat de Montélimar
Makes a 9×13 pan of candy to divide into pieces

Equipment:
Stand mixer
Candy thermometer
9×13-inch pan
Wafer paper (to line top and bottom of pan): sometimes called rice paper, it’s an edible paper that will stick to both sides of the candy. It’s available through stores like this one.
Non-stick cooking spray

Ingredients:
(use a kitchen scale and grams if you can, otherwise we’ve made conversions)

1 kilogram almonds (2 pounds or about 4 cups)
100 grams pistachios (3.5 ounces or 1/2 cup)
500 grams honey (2 1/4 cups)
400 grams sugar (2 cups)
4 egg whites
100 grams powdered sugar (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Roast the almonds and pistachios: here’s our method but generally speaking spread them out on a baking sheet and put them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to make sure they toast evenly.

Spray the pan with cooking spray and line it with the wafer paper.

In a bain marie or double boiler (our method is to fill a medium saucepan a third full of water and then place a smaller saucepan within that one. The bottom of the small pan sits in the water that is being heated) heat the honey, stirring constantly. In another pan, heat the sugar, aiming for 250-265°F. Once it reaches the right temperature, add it to the honey (being careful not to burn yourself!). Keep the heat constant and continue to stir the mixture until it reaches 280-290°F.

In a stand mixer, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks (see a visual guide to this here) and then add the honey/sugar mixture a little at a time and carefully (this is where the bees inundated us). The mixture should begin to thicken almost immediately as it cools. Keep the mixer at medium to high (our KitchenAid had to battle the thickness of the ball of nougat). This is where you’re beating all the air and fluffy chewiness into the candy. It will begin to form a ball around the beater and have the consistency of a very thick chocolate chip cookie dough with the stickiness of taffy after 6-8 minutes. At this point add the warm nuts and the powdered sugar.

As soon as the nuts have been mixed into the batter, pour it into the prepared pan. It will be thick and you might need an extra hand to get it out. Try coating a wooden spoon with cooking spray to help with the stickiness. Smooth the batter and cover it with a sheet of wafer paper. Use a rolling pin to smooth out the pan, the candy will begin to harden almost immediately so get it smooth as quickly as you can, it won’t ever be perfect, that’s the nice rustic quality you’re going for. Allow it to cool overnight or, if you’re in a hurry, for at least 3 hours.

Once cool, unmold the nougat onto a cutting board and slice through in strips and then slice those into the desired size. Wrap the pieces in cellophane or wax paper and they’ll last quite a while.

You can also experiment with adding chocolate chunks, currants, lemon peel, other kinds of nuts, etc. This is just the classic recipe that you can use as a jumping off point.

Source: TheKitchn