French Nougat.... oooh lala

A few years ago I was in Provence for a few weeks with my family and some friends.  It was pretty awesome- we did not much more then let the kids swim in the pool at the villa, eat and go to open air markets.  Literally, I think Jill and I drove to every market in the area and did nothing but shop, walk around and look and eat….. Can’t ask for more than that!

One of the things that I saw and loved was nougat.  I have a sweet tooth though it isn’t enormous.. but the look of these “cakes” of nougat really got to me.  They had different flavors and were sold by weight and in slices.  It was awesome!  I have not seen this type of nougat again until recently.  Walking through the bakery dept at Whole Foods I saw some slices prepackaged, they even had a couple of flavors.  I picked up one (a slice was about $10) and took it home.  It was a traditional Almond flavor and it was really delicious with its sweet almost airy texture and whole crunchy almonds laced throughout.  It didn’t taste as fresh or as yummy as the ones in France but it really made me start thinking about it again.  And of course I thought…. I can make this.  I tried looking it up online and found tons of recipes all slightly varying for nougat or torrone or whatever else its called. 

I found a recipe that I thought would work- honey, sugar, water, corn syrup and almonds.  One thing it called for was a candy thermometer ….. which I don’t have any longer since someone broke it last year.  (Shows how much I use it!)  So I had to guess using my meat thermometer that only goes up to …. 200 degrees. 

I gave it a try and it looked great- not the nougat I was looking for but it was pretty damn good looking and I was impressed!  I let it sit overnight to “cure” sort of like marshmallows (which I am awesome at making).  The next day it looked good and I took it out of the pan, I cut it and put the slice on a piece of plastic wrap, it tasted good but when I looked over at the “cake” it had started to move!  It was sort of having the silly putty effect where you put it in one place and it just relaxes and spreads out….  I quickly shoved it back into the pan where it all miraculously went back together like I had never removed a slice!  So- obviously the thermometer was important after all and my “guesstimating at the temp didn’t work….. 

All said, I am not giving up on my French nougat…..