Nougat Recipe - Italian Torrone (2024)

This Torrone or Nougat recipe is simple, and straightforward, and you can easily try it at home, using only natural ingredients, no corn syrup. Torrone or nougat is a caramelized mix of vanilla, marshmallow, and honey, filled with toasted almonds and pistachios. There are different flavors, chewy and crunchy versions. These airy, fluffy, sweet, rich candies are popular at Christmas, usually exchanged as edible gifts.

Torrone candy is a typical Christmas present in Italy, usually made by artisanal bakeries or commonchocolate brands. They are one of the many similarities between Italian and French cuisines.

The base is always thesame: a rich Italian meringue mixed with honey and different flavors(vanilla, orange, lemon) and nuts (usually almonds and pistachios).

Some versions are covered with dark, milk, or white chocolate.

Torrone bars are wrapped in colorful wrapping paper, often in the shape of candies, a great idea for homemade Christmas edible gifts.

For more edible gifts, you can check nine homemade Italian liqueurs, particularly the Christmas Italian Eggnog VOV. You can also make red pepper jelly to serve with a cheese platter, or Balsamic fig glaze, or Concord grape jelly to serve with homemade foie gras terrine.

For more egg whites recipes, you can check the Mini Meringues, Mont Blanc dessert, Chestnut Pavlova, Floating Island, or watch the web story: Desserts Using Egg Whites.

Preparation

If you have never made nougat before, you need to make your plan as it is not an easy recipe. I made it easy to follow by simplifying some steps, but you still need to be thoroughly prepared:

• Make sure you do not have any distractions, as the preparation of the marshmallow requires your total attention.
• Read the entire recipe before you start, and prepare all the necessary ingredients and equipment.
• You will need to whip the egg whites with hot caramel for a long-time. It is best to have an electric mixer with a heat-resistant bowl
• If you are not familiar with caramel, you need a kitchen thermometer
• Sheets of rice waffle paper are essential for this recipe, but you may have to order online. They are thin edible sheets that contain the nougat so it doesn't stick to the pan.

Let's keep it simple

Some Nougat recipes suggest caramelizing the syrup and the honey separately. That is an impossible task for non-professional cooks.

Syrup and honey have to reach the right temperature and consistency at the same time in separate pots, while the egg whites reach a firm peach in the blender.

It is like an orchestra director that needs to perfectly time the rhythm of the caramel honey, the syrup, and the marshmallow.

I had a great tip from a French chef Claudine, "you can caramelize the honey and syrup together".

This is so much simpler!

Why no corn syrup

This recipe uses all-natural ingredients that are easy to find at your local supermarket (except for the rice waffle sheets that cannot be substituted).

Most nougat recipes I found online use corn syrup, a glucose mixture made from corn, usually added to process food at an industrial scale.

Something I wouldn't use for other recipes or have at home.

Even if it helps stabilize the meringue, it is not a mandatory ingredient, and I rather not waste money on it.

Ingredients

• Caster sugar: regular granulated sugar
• Freshwater: regular water is fine. If your tap water has a strong flavor, use bottled water. Although it is not necessary.
• Honey: I like to use acacia or wildflowers honey, but you can use the one you have at home as long as it is natural.
• Egg whites: Use fresh egg whites at room temperature. If cold, the egg whites will not beat to stiff peaks
• Peeled or unpeeled whole almonds: as long as their shell is removed, if you buy unpeeled almonds, they are very easy to peel. They need to be whole, not sliced or shredded.
• Peeled whole pistachios: it is time-consuming to peel pistachios, so best to buy the peeled ones.
• Sheets of rice waffle paper: they are not easy to find in the supermarket. Order them online or buy them in a pastry specialty shop.

Chocolate ganache for the coating (optional):

• Dark chocolate
• Whole cream

Quantities are in the recipe card below

Instructions

Peeling and toasting the nuts

If your almonds are not peeled, you can easily peel them as follows:

1. Let the almonds soak in hot boiling water

2. Wait until the water cools down

3. The almond's peel will slip out by simply squeezing it with your fingers

4. It will only take a few minutes to peel them all

5. Place the peeled almonds and pistachios on a baking tray over parchment paper

6. Toast the nuts for 15 minutes in a hot oven at 300 F - 150 C

Hint: Do not get distracted, as the nuts burn suddenly if kept longer in the oven.

Prepare the rice waffles

Place a rice waffle sheet on a flat tray and keep the other sheet on the side.

Making the Italian meringue

Before you start, place the electrical mixer next to the pot you will be making the caramel. The less you move around with hot caramel, the better it is.

Make the caramel

1. Place in the pot the fresh water, the sugar, and the honey

2. Turn on the heat and let it simmer at medium heat

Hint: Do not mix, not move the pan, or continually check the temperature, even if the sugar is not completely dissolved. It will eventually. If you move the caramel, the sugar will crystallize, and you will have to start all over again. Even if the caramel boils too vigorously, the sugar can crystallize. Keep it simmering at medium temperature.

Whip the egg whites

3. Place the egg whites into the mixer

4. Start whipping the egg whites only when the caramel starts to turn slightly yellow

Hint: The egg whites will form a stiff peak in only a few minutes. At that point, you will need to stop whipping and pour the hot caramel. If the caramel is not ready, the egg whites will not hold their stiff peak for long and will start separating at the bottom. You must start whipping them again just before the caramel is ready. Timing is of the essence!

5. Check the temperature with a kitchen thermometer. The caramel has to reach 300 F - 150 C

6. The caramel is done once it turns golden yellow.

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7. Start slowly pouring the caramel in a thin stream into the egg whites while whipping. Just like a Mayonaise

8. Even if some caramel is still in the pan, do not try to collect it with a spoon and pour it into the mixture. You need to focus on the meringue. Let it go!

9. Keep mixing it until it cools down completely. It will form a shiny, thick ribbon.

10. Once the honey and the caramel are incorporated, add the roasted almonds, pistachios, and vanilla essence and mix them with a spatula by hand

Making the Nougat

1. Spread the nougat mix over the rice waffle sheet with a spatula

2. Place the second rice waffle sheet on top and press

3. To make it even, you can roll it flat with a rolling pin

4. Let it rest overnight in a dry place

5. The next day the nougat is ready. Remove the uneven edges. We will use them later

6. and cut them into bars about 3 inches - 8 cm long. You can make them smaller if you wish.

Packaging the Torrone Candy

If you want to package them to make candy parcels, use wax paper for candy and tighten the ends with ribbons.

I suggest using transparentpaper so you can see the nougats inside.

Covering with chocolate

If you want to use the uneven edges you removed earlier, you can cover them with chocolate:

1. Prepare the chocolate ganache by melting the chocolate in the microwave for a few minutes at low to medium watts (500W).
2. Slightly warm up the whole cream and add to the chocolate

1. Prepare the chocolate ganache by melting the chocolate in the microwave for a few minutes at low to medium watts (500W).

2. Slightly warm up the whole cream at Bain Marie and add to the chocolate

3. Cut the uneven edges of the Torrone into small bites and remove with a scissorthe extra waffle paper

4. Deep the nougat bites in the chocolate ganache lay them on a tray, and put them in the fridge to solidify.

Hint: This is a fun activity to do with children. The bites do not have to be perfect, they are handmade

5. I left some plain bites and put them mixed in the jar. You can also coat them in white chocolate or make different flavors

Variation

In this recipe, we have added vanilla essence, but there are different other variations:

• Citrus: you can add lemon or orange zest. I suggest adding the zests we soaked in alcohol to make limoncello or orange liqueur curacao. The alcohol they have absorbed will give an extra kick.
• Hazelnuts: instead of almonds and pistachios, you can use hazelnuts or other nuts.
• Essence: you can also use orange flower or almond essence
• Candied fruit: sometimes candied fruit like raisins, cranberries, or dried apricots are added to the nuts

Equipment

As mentioned above, this recipe needs to have some fundamental equipment:

• KitchenAid Mixer: as the egg whites and the caramel need whipping for a long time, you need an electric mixer. The mixer bowl has to be heat resistant as you will be adding hot caramel to the mixture
• Kitchen thermometer digital: if you are not used to making caramel, you need a kitchen thermometer to ensure the caramel has reached the right temperature and can be added. Professional chefs do it with their fingers, but I do not recommend it.
• All-clad small pot: you need a solid, firm pot as the simmering of the caramel needs to be consistent and stable
• Double Boiler Pot Bain Marie: if you are coating the nougat with chocolate
• Glass jars: for packaging as an edible gift
• Wrap Cello Bag: for packaging as candy bars

Storage

Store the Torrone in a dry place inside an airtight container.

Even if it will last for months, it is best used within a few weeks.

Top tips summary

If you have never made nougat before, you need to make your plan as it is not an easy recipe. I made it easy to follow by simplifying some steps, but you still need to be thoroughly prepared:

• Make sure you do not have any distractions, as the preparation of the marshmallow requires your total attention.
• Read the entire recipe before you start, and prepare all the necessary ingredients and equipment.
• You will need to whip the egg whites with hot caramel for a long-time. It is best to have an electric mixer with a heat-resistant bowl
• If you are not familiar with caramel, you need a kitchen thermometer
• Sheets of rice waffle paper are essential for this recipe, but you may have to order online. They are thin edible sheets that contain the nougat so it doesn't stick to the pan.
• Egg whites: Use fresh egg whites at room temperature. If cold, the egg whites will not beat to stiff peaks
• Toasting the nuts: Do not get distracted, as the nuts burn suddenly if kept longer in the oven.
• Making the caramel: Do not mix, not move the pan, or continually check the temperature, even if the sugar is not completely dissolved. It will eventually. If you move the caramel, the sugar will crystallize, and you will have to start all over again. Even if the caramel boils too vigorously, the sugar can crystallize. Keep it simmering at medium temperature.
• Mixing egg whites and caramel: The egg whites will form a stiff peak in only a few minutes. At that point, you will need to stop whipping and pour the hot caramel. If the caramel is not ready, the egg whites will not hold their stiff peak for long and will start separating at the bottom. You must start whipping them again just before the caramel is ready. Timing is of the essence!

Recipes you might also like

For more winter desserts recipes, check out the category: Desserts

Also, check the recipes below for Christmas made with egg whites:

• Mont Blanc dessert
• Pavlova Recipe with Chestnut Mousse
• Torta Caprese with Almond and Chocolate - Gluten Free
• Walnut Dark Chocolate Sponge Cake with Raspberry
• Mini Meringues Recipe
• Scandinavian Almond Cake With Custard Cream
• Ile Flottante Recipe

If you are making this Nougat Torrone, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, or sign up to my newsletter.