My first nougat was the old Callard & Bowser. Unfortunately Callard & Bowser was bought by Kraft foods and Dessert Nougat was discontinued. Since then I have been trying to find nougats that taste like them. The nougat that I found that matched closely to taste were those found in Australia, notably Mondo Nougat.
I cannot buy Mondo Nougat consistently since it is not sold in KK so hence I embarked on this journey to create my own nougat.
My first problem is edible rice paper. Finding edible rice paper is completely hopeless. The only ones sold here are the rice paper used for Vietnam rolls. Read about my edible rice paper creation here. Since I have no other option I used parchment paper for the nougat instead.
The Right Ingredient.
There are so many recipe online and I was no sure which one will produce the same taste as Callard & Bowser. I have decided to go with a recipe asking for more honey ratio.
The First Disaster
Now if you have been searching as much as I did you would eventually end up reading one method that did not use a mixer but just a spatula to mix the egg white into the hot syrup. Somehow this technique sounded much easier and I decided to try this method.
What a disaster that turned out to be. The egg white cooked immediately upon touching the syrup. It didn’t even mixed like what the video showed. Of course my mistake was probably using half the ingredient asked for while maintaining the same hours the cooking time required.
The Almost Disaster Two
The first batch failed nougat was not salvageable because I overcooked it and there was a burned taste to the candy. I was disappointed but I did not give up. I still had enough sugar and honey. I decided to attempt the second try and reduce the hours required by half.
Well, like it or not, the same problem happened. The egg whites cooked and became clumpy bits.
The difference between the first is this batch did not taste burned. I thought lets not give up on it yet. So I took the syrup off the fire, ran to the fridge, grab an egg, split the white from the yolk and quickly beat the white up to soft peaks. I wasn’t sure if the still cold egg white will make the syrup mixture even worst but I was determined not to waste a second batch of ruined candy.
With the running mixer in one hand I carefully poured the syrup cum clumpy egg whites into it.
The Miracle
Amazingly it started to turn white and build up volume just like it supposed to. Even the clumpy bits disappeared. It was starting to look like a nougat mixture. I was so happy. I could just somehow salvage this candy after all.
The only problem was the bowl holding the nougat was getting hot. Somehow I manage to juggle a hand mixer in one hand, the other holding the pot with candy syrup and my tummy blocking the bowl from tumbling off the kitchen table. Yeah I guess should have put the bowl on a stand mixer before I attempt this.
I poured all the syrup, toss the empty pot and I quickly grab my oven glove which was lucky to be nearby and steadied the bowl. I continued beating the nougat for another 5 minutes.
Vanillin or Vanilla
Since I read that nougat does not like humidity or water I decided to use vanillin powder instead of vanilla essence. Somehow between the juggling I managed to sprinkle some vanillin into the mixture.
The Parchment Paper
Using a spatula I mixed in the toasted almonds then spread the nougat into a prepared tin with parchment paper. Another parchment paper to cover the top and to press the nougat down. To press it further, I weight it down with a bottle of water.
The final Judgement
The finished product was a little softer than I would like it to be so I let the nougats sit inside the fridge to firm it up further. My hit and miss cooking technique probably cause the hardening problem.
It did not taste like Callard & Bowser but it was still good.
It did not taste like Callard & Bowser but it was still good.
The Recipe
The original recipe I used is found at the video link below. The video is in Italian but there is English subtitled provided. I used half the ingredient.
The Ingredient
200g Honey
300g Nuts
125g Sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp vanilla
a small pinch of salt.
The Method
Pour honey into the pot and stir for 5 mins
Add sugar and stir for 15 mins (or until 140C), Remove from heat
Beat egg white until stiff with salt
Gradually pour the syrup into the beaten egg white.
Add in almonds
Stage Temperature
thread (e.g., syrup) 110 to 112 °C (230 to 234 °F)
soft ball (e.g., fudge) 112 to 116 °C (234 to 241 °F)
firm ball (e.g., soft caramel candy) 118 to 120 °C (244 to 248 °F)
hard ball (e.g., nougat) 121 to 130 °C (250 to 266 °F)
soft crack (e.g., salt water taffy) 132 to 143 °C (270 to 289 °F)
hard crack (e.g., toffee) 146 to 154 °C (295 to 309 °F)
clear liquid 160 °C (320 °F)
brown liquid (e.g., liquid caramel) 170 °C (338 °F)
burnt sugar 177 °C (351 °F)