Nougat
2 cups sugar 1/3 cup corn sirup 1 cup water 4 egg-whites 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups nut-meats 1/2 cup candied cherries Boil together one-half the sugar, half of the water and half of the corn sirup to the crack stage, or 280 degrees F. Remove the sirup from the fire and pour it slowly over the well-beaten whites and continue beating until it is cool. While beating, cook the remaining half of the ingredients to the crack stage, or 280 degrees F. Remove and add at once to the first mixture, beating while adding. When cool, add the vanilla, nut-meats and candied cherries and pour into buttered pans. Smooth over the surface and let it stand overnight before cutting. In the morning cut and wrap in oiled paper.
This is a two-stage Italian-meringue nougat: the syrup is divided and cooked in two batches so the meringue is stabilized twice. A stand mixer and a reliable thermometer make it straightforward.
- The hingeThe syrup must reach a true 280F both times, and it must go into the whites in a thin, steady stream down the side of the bowl. Poured in a rush it cooks the whites into threads and the nougat stays sticky.
- Two hands, or a stand mixerAs written you beat the first meringue while a second syrup cooks. With a stand mixer this is easy; by hand you will want a second person. Alternatively cook the second syrup only after the first meringue has cooled, and reheat nothing.
- Corn sirupPlain light corn syrup. It is an interfering agent that keeps the sucrose from crystallizing, so do not leave it out or swap in honey without expecting a different, softer candy.
- "Crack stage"An older name for the range just below hard crack, here pinned at 280F, which is soft crack. Trust the thermometer over the name; older stage names varied from book to book.
- Nut-meatsAny 1 1/2 cups of shelled nuts; almonds and pistachios are the traditional choices, and walnuts are a common American substitute. Toast and cool them first, and warm them slightly before folding in so they do not chill the mixture into stiffness.
- Pan and settingThe recipe says only 'buttered pans'; an 8-inch square pan will give a slab roughly an inch thick. The overnight rest is not optional: the candy needs it to firm enough to cut cleanly.
- HumidityNougat is hygroscopic. Make it on a dry day and store the wrapped pieces airtight, or the surface will go tacky within hours.
- YieldRoughly 2 lb of candy. Oiled paper is still the right wrapping, or use waxed or parchment paper twists.
Nougat in this form -- egg white whipped with boiled sugar, then loaded with nuts -- descends from the white nougats of southern Europe, associated above all with Montelimar in France and turron in Spain, where almonds and honey were the traditional filling. American versions commonly used corn syrup in place of honey and added candied cherries, which gave the pale slab flecks of red and suited it to holiday gift-giving. The two-syrup method here works by thermometer degrees, and this book prints both the old stage name and the number beside it.