confused nougat
My grandfather was a chinese pastry chef and I recently got his old nougat recipe from a cousin...but it's poorly translated from Chinese, vague and it just doesn't look right. I've looked online at almost every nougat recipe and they all seem very different from this one!
Wondering if anyone has some insight as to if this recipe is really accurate or if you could answer some of the questions that have come up for me. The nougat is quite chewy and not airy but substantial.
Here are the ingredients and instructions with my questions:
A: water, sugar, syrup (don't know if it's corn or glucose)
B: nuts, butter, egg whites, milk and vanilla powder
C: syrup ( again, doesn't specify what kind)
1. Mix A (do you think I should be boiling this to a specific temp?)
2. from B, whip whites until thick. Add rest of B.
3. Mix A,B and C. Cook under 90 celcius (this one seems strange! do you think C should be cooked to a specific temp too?)
4. Cool and cut
Any insight would be incredibly helpful!!!
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4 Comments:
My first instinct would be to ask if the original Chinese were available, then get a better translation. That'd be what I'd do before mucking around - that's just me though. :)
feriorrenna at 1:05AM on 06/09/09
corn syrup is fine when making nougat. i've never continued cooking it AFTER adding the the cooked mixture A.
or adding additional syrup later.
it's basically an italian meringue method. usually, you heat the syrup, water,sugar mix to hard ball stage, 248 degrees f?
start mixing the egg whites before it reaches that & then pour the mix into the egg whites while they're still beating. beat until stiff & then add in nuts. i've never put butter in the mixture...i've butter than pan.
i think you're just going to have to experiment. good luck!
saltcrystal at 1:09PM on 06/09/09
Nougat a la Food Network
Nougat a la How to Make Dot Com. Lot's of pictures with this one.
Sicilian Nougat a la Delicious Days. Nice photos here as well.
Nougat a la RecipeZaar. One of the best recipe repositories on the web.
I have never made nougat, but the recipes are all very similar and all give about the same warnings.
Grumpy Old Man at 4:09PM on 06/09/09
Hmmm, I think you're right saltcrystal. I may have to take guidance from the links from you guys and just experiment to see what I get. If I stumble on something good, I'll post the findings!
Thanks!!
bigfatmouth at 5:26PM on 06/09/09