Among the abundance of delicious oriental delicacies, many people fell in love with nougat. It is used as a filling for sweets, a layer for cakes and as an independent dessert. Real nougat is made from natural ingredients with the addition of a large amount of nuts. It is easy to prepare this delicacy at home. But first you need to understand what nougat is, what ingredients are included and what the calorie content of the dessert is. We will talk about all this in detail in our article.

What is nougat

The name of the viscous mass, which appeals to many sweet tooths, comes from the Latin word nux, which means nut. Indeed, this ingredient is added in large quantities to the sweet treat. What is nougat? What ingredients are used to prepare the dessert?

First of all, nougat is a confectionery product that is made from egg whites, sugar or honey and nuts. Traditionally, this delicacy uses hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, cashews, and walnuts, but not peanuts. The consistency of nougat can be completely different: from light and airy to thick and viscous. In addition to nuts, chocolate, citrus zest, candied fruits, etc. are optionally added to add flavor.

Southern Europe is considered the birthplace of nougat, where it has not lost its popularity since the 15th century. Most likely, the delicacy was brought to European countries from the Middle East, in particular from Persia. Today, nougat is one of the attributes of the Christmas holidays.

Nutritional value and calorie content

Nougat is characterized by a high sugar content, which makes this product in demand among people involved in sports and physical labor. Children love this delicacy no less than others, for whom it, due to the high content of nuts that stimulate brain activity, can be especially useful. The average calorie content of nougat is about 400 kcal. This value may vary depending on the amount of certain ingredients in the composition.

The nutritional value of the product is quite high. The amount of protein is 7.1 g, fat 10.6 g, carbohydrates 72.2 g. The delicacy can be considered somewhat healthy. It contains a fairly large amount of nuts, honey and dried fruits. At the same time, the high sugar content makes this product harmful for people with diabetes. In any case, this sweet oriental delicacy should be consumed in limited quantities.

Nut nougat with candied fruits, hazelnuts and almonds

Preparing oriental sweets at home will not be difficult if you follow a certain procedure. The nougat recipe requires following the following step-by-step instructions:

1. In a thick-bottomed saucepan, prepare sugar syrup from a glass of water and 800 g of sugar. Cook it over medium heat for about 3 minutes.
2. Without removing the saucepan with syrup from the stove, add 200 g of honey to it. Continue the cooking process for 5 minutes.
3. Beat egg whites (3 pcs.) with a mixer at high speed. Pour sugar-honey syrup into a strong protein foam in a thin stream.
4. In a dry frying pan, fry the peeled hazelnuts, almonds and almond flakes. The total quantity of nuts used is 240 g.
5. Add cooled hazelnuts, almonds and petals, as well as prepared candied fruits (120 g), into the protein mass. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
6. Cover the baking sheet with foil or parchment so that not only the bottom is covered, but also the sides.
7. Place the protein mass in the prepared form, smooth it out and put it in the refrigerator for 2 days so that the nougat hardens. Cut the finished delicacy into small squares or rectangles and serve.

Chocolate nougat

This recipe will appeal to those people who, for a number of reasons, do not eat eggs. This delicacy does not contain any animal products, which means it can be prepared even for vegetarians.

So, many have already tried it and know what nougat is. At the same time, the oriental delicacy prepared according to the following recipe resembles a traditional dessert only in consistency. Its taste is richer and more refined. Chocolate nougat is prepared in the following sequence:

1. Thick sugar syrup is prepared from 50 g of sugar.
2. Almonds (100 g) are peeled, crushed into crumbs and fried in a frying pan. To peel the nuts, pour boiling water over them for 10 minutes. Then change the hot water and leave the almonds in the bowl until they cool completely. After this, it can be easily cleaned with your hands, literally by pressing the nut with your fingers. Grind the almonds in a blender or meat grinder, and then fry in a dry frying pan until golden brown.
3. Melt chocolate (100 g) in a water bath.
4. Combine all ingredients together, mix, add a handful of almond petals.
5. Pour the chocolate mixture into the mold, smooth it out and put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Nougat with white chocolate

This dessert has a rich and interesting taste. It is not too difficult to prepare, but to measure the temperature of the syrup you will need to prepare a thermometer.

The nougat recipe is as follows:

1. Pour 2/3 cup of sugar syrup and 1/3 cup of water into a thick-bottomed saucepan. Add sugar (2 tablespoons). The mass is stirred, brought to a boil and cooked until the syrup temperature is 132 °C (check with a thermometer or temperature probe).
2. White chocolate (50 g) is melted in a water bath.
3. Whisk egg whites (2 pcs.) with a pinch of salt.
4. The hot syrup is gradually poured into the protein mass, constantly whisking with a mixer.
5. Add melted chocolate and almonds. The mass is thoroughly kneaded and transferred to a greased form.
6. The baking sheet is covered with foil and left on the table overnight. In the morning, you can cut the nougat into pieces.

Cocoa nougat in chocolate glaze

A very tasty dessert is made using the following recipe. By the way, its calorie content can be significantly reduced if you replace butter with coconut oil and cream with milk of plant origin.

Homemade nougat with cocoa in chocolate glaze is prepared according to the following recipe:

1. Chocolate with a cocoa content of at least 80% (100 g) is melted in a water bath, combined with butter (50 g) and poured into a prepared form measuring 10x20 cm. The baking sheet is sent to the refrigerator or freezer.
2. Cream with a fat content of 20% (450 ml) is brought to a boil. Without removing the saucepan from the stove, add peanut butter (8 tablespoons) and butter (1 tablespoon), the same amount of cocoa powder and sugar. Using a mixer, the mass is brought to a homogeneous consistency.
3. The saucepan is removed from the heat.
4. The whipped mass must cool completely, after which it is poured into a baking tray on top of the chocolate. The form is sent to the refrigerator until the nougat has completely hardened.
5. Chocolate glaze is prepared from 100 g of chocolate and 50 g of butter and poured on top of the nougat.
6. After 2 hours, the dessert is cut into portions.

Nougat with peanuts

Nuts are a mandatory ingredient in this oriental delicacy. Almonds, hazelnuts or cashews are traditionally used. In our recipe, peanuts are added to the sweet and viscous mass.

Nougat with nuts is prepared in the following sequence:

1. Thick sugar syrup is boiled from water (125 ml), sugar (400 g) and honey (120 g) until it tastes like a hard ball.
2. The whites are whipped into foam. At the end, add a teaspoon of lemon juice.
3. Without stopping the whipping process, the syrup is beaten into the whites.
4. Add roasted peanuts (1-2 tbsp.). The thick and viscous mass is mixed and spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment in a layer 2 cm thick.
5. The nougat should cool at room temperature for 6 hours, after which the mold must be moved to the refrigerator until the dessert has completely hardened.

Dear readers, I welcome you to the website In My House! Almost everyone has heard about nougat, but it can hardly be called a very common dessert. However, real sweet tooths are, of course, familiar with it, because it is difficult to imagine a sweeter dish than this delicacy.

How many people know that nougat is not at all difficult to prepare yourself? This is exactly what my article will be about. But first, I propose to find out what nougat is, where it comes from, what it is made from and what varieties it has.

Nougat - what is it?

The name of this delicacy comes from the Latin “nux”, which means nut. Not surprising, since nuts are one of the main ingredients of nougat, along with sugar and proteins.

The composition of the dessert often varies: instead of sugar, honey is added, and the type of nut varies depending on the tradition of each individual area - it can be almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts.

The consistency of the delicacy also depends on the recipe. Nougat can be either soft, quickly melting in the mouth, or hard, with a viscous texture.

There is a white and dark variety of this sweet. The dark shade is given to it by sugar, brought to the state of caramel, and cocoa. White nougat owes its hue to beaten egg whites.

To add a variety of flavors, candied fruits, chocolate, cinnamon or vanilla are added to the sugar and protein mixture, and nougat is eaten as an independent dessert or added as a filling to candies.

There are many legends surrounding the origin of this dessert. The oldest recipes for white nougat were discovered in Baghdad, in books dating back to the 10th century. This delicacy is also mentioned in the ancient chronicles of Bukhara and Syria. From there, with trade caravans, it came to Europe.

Nowadays, this sweetness is an important part of the European Christmas menu.

The most famous varieties of nougat

Each country carefully preserves its traditional secrets of preparing the delicacy.

Spain

Spanish turron is made according to ancient recipes with roasted almonds, sugar, honey and egg white.

Italy

Italian torrone contains the same basic ingredients, plus vanilla or citrus flavoring, and is often wrapped in two thin sheets of rice paper.

The center of torrone production is the city of Cremona in northern Italy, which annually hosts a famous festival dedicated to this delicacy.

The Venetian city of Cologna Veneta is famous for the production of a special nut variety of nougat called “mandorlato”, always based on honey, sugar, egg whites and almonds, which in Italian is called “mandorle”. It has a rich flavor and requires some effort to take a bite.

Austria

Viennese nougat, Wiener Nougat, has been produced since the beginning of the 19th century. This is an option that contains only sugar, cocoa butter and nuts and has a very soft consistency. For the Austrian version of the dessert, hazelnuts are most often used.

What are the benefits of nougat?

Due to such indicators, nougat is often used as a source of additional energy by those who do a lot of sports or other physical activities. Naturally, most children also like this sweetness. As a consolation for their parents, we can remember that nuts, which are so abundant in nougat, help improve brain function.

If the delicacy contains honey and dried fruits, then they slightly increase its beneficial properties. Although even in this case, you should not consider this dessert as a remedy and consume it in large quantities. Due to its high sugar content, nougat is contraindicated for those who suffer from diabetes.

How to make nougat yourself

Now let's see how to prepare this ancient treat at home. I will focus on the most traditional options with step-by-step photos, and in a separate article we will post a recipe for making nougat.

Nougat with nuts and candied fruits

To prepare you will need:

• 200 g sugar;
• 1 glass of boiled water;
• 100 g natural honey;
• 3 egg whites;
• 75 g nuts;
• 50 g candied fruits.

Mix sugar with water and place the resulting mixture on low heat. When the sugar dissolves in the water, add honey. Separately, beat the egg whites with a mixer and add syrup from honey, sugar and water. Lightly fry the peeled and chopped nut kernels in a frying pan. Then add nuts and candied fruits to the protein mixture and mix thoroughly. Place the prepared mixture on a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator.

The total calorie content of the dish per 100 g is 430 kcal. Proteins – 6.5 g, fats – 16.0 g, carbohydrates – 65.0 g.

For a better illustration, watch the video showing the process of preparing the dessert:

Dark chocolate nougat

This type of delicacy is suitable even for vegetarians, because this recipe does not contain chicken eggs. And thanks to chocolate, the taste of the dessert becomes richer and more interesting.

You will need:

• 100 g sugar;
• half a glass of water;
• 50 g almonds;
• 100 g dark chocolate.

Dissolve sugar and water over low heat until syrup is obtained. Fry the nuts a little. Melt the dark chocolate until liquid using a double boiler. Then mix all the ingredients, place on a baking sheet covered with parchment or foil, and refrigerate until completely set.

The total calorie content of the dish per 100 g is 490 kcal. Proteins – 9.5 g, fats – 32.0 g, carbohydrates – 40.0 g.

White chocolate nougat

White chocolate gives the dessert a unique taste and makes the delicacy even sweeter, so this type of nougat is sure to please true gourmets.

Take the following ingredients:

• 100 g sugar;
• half a glass of water;
• 50 g white chocolate;
• 2 egg whites.

Dissolve sugar and water over low heat until syrup is obtained. Melt the white chocolate separately. Beat the egg whites and mix all the ingredients together. Then pour the resulting mixture into a prepared baking sheet, which can be placed in the refrigerator or any other cool place for the mixture to harden.

The total calorie content of the dish per 100 g is 490 kcal. Proteins – 9.5 g, fats – 30.0 g, carbohydrates – 50.0 g.

Cocoa nougat in chocolate glaze

Homemade dessert with cocoa, covered with chocolate glaze, is prepared as follows.

For the chocolate base you need:

• 100 g dark chocolate: it is better to choose varieties containing at least 80% cocoa;
• 50 g butter.

For the top layer:

• 400 ml 20% cream;
• 5 tablespoons peanut butter;
• 2 tablespoons butter;
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder;
• 1 tablespoon sugar.

For the glaze:

• 100 g chocolate;
• 50 g butter.

Melt the chocolate with butter and place in the refrigerator in a 20x10 cm mold. Heat the cream, add peanut butter, butter, cocoa and sugar. Mix all products thoroughly. When the mixture has cooled, place it on top of the already prepared chocolate mixture and place it in the refrigerator again.

Prepare a glaze of chocolate and butter and pour it over the nougat.

The total calorie content of the dish per 100 g is 450 kcal. Proteins – 6.5 g, fats – 20.0 g, carbohydrates – 76.0 g.

Peanut nougat

It is believed that any nut except peanuts can be used in traditional nougat. If you want to experiment in the kitchen, we offer a recipe with this “forbidden” ingredient.

You will need:

• 1.5 cups peanuts;
• 130 ml water;
• 350 g sugar;
• 120 g honey;
• 3 squirrels;
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

Combine water, sugar and honey, bring them over low heat until a syrup forms. Beat the whites into a thick foam and add lemon juice to it.

Peel the peanuts, chop and lightly fry. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, place the resulting mass in a mold or baking sheet, smooth and refrigerate until completely cool.

The total calorie content of the dish per 100 g is 424 kcal. Proteins – 10.0 g, fats – 13.0 g, carbohydrates – 66.0 g.

Conclusion

So, we found out what kind of delicacy nougat is, and we learned that it is not at all difficult to make it yourself. If you cannot live a day without dessert, then you will definitely like this dessert. Well, if you prefer more dietary dishes, then nougat will help you in moments when you really want something sweet, because a small piece of this dish is enough to get the necessary dose of sugar.

Tell us in the comments if you like nougat, and if so, what kind do you prefer?

A delicious dessert that is liked by many gourmets and not only them is known as nougat. This dish originated from the Middle East back in the 15th century. The delicacy has become an integral attribute of Christmas in European countries.

There are a lot of recipes by which you can prepare nougat naturally at home. Every housewife can easily prepare nougat.

Traditional recipe

To prepare nougat, it is enough to have the following products on hand at home:

• sugar – 300 g;
• water – 50 ml;
• almonds – 300 g;
• egg whites – 2 pcs.;
• liquid honey – 5 tbsp. spoon;
• vanilla sugar – 1 package;
• lemon juice – 1 teaspoon;
• waffle cakes – 6 pcs.

The cooking process to get real nougat consists of the following steps. The almonds must be soaked for ten minutes in boiling water, then peeled off, carefully placed in an even layer on a baking sheet and roasted in the oven. Next, turn off the oven and leave the nuts there for a while to keep them warm. In the meantime, add water to the sugar and then put it on low heat. When it boils, add more honey.

Important: in the process of preparing nougat, the most important thing is to strictly maintain the required temperature regime.

If the sweetness does not warm up much, the nougat may not harden, although the taste will be excellent. The sweet syrup should be brought to 140 degrees - for this you should use a thermometer in the kitchen to control the temperature. If this is not observed, you can trust your intuition - you need to catch the moment at which the syrup begins to thicken, but does not yet have time to become caramel. To prevent this, you need to add as much heat as possible, then cook, stirring constantly.

Immediately after preparing the syrup, begin beating the whites. During this process, add vanilla sugar and lemon juice without stopping the beating. Then pour in the syrup in a thin stream. When prepared correctly, the mass will increase in volume and become viscous and thick. Next, add more nuts to the mixture; if desired, you can also add dried fruits. Mix everything thoroughly with a spoon.

Place the third part of the nougat on the waffle cake in an even layer and cover with the second cake. Do this twice. Press down with something and place in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, take it out of the cold and cut it into portions using a damp and warm knife. It is advisable to store nougat in the refrigerator.

Dark nougat with nuts

You can make nougat with chocolate and hazelnuts. To do this you will need the following ingredients:

• hazelnuts – 300 g;
• milk chocolate – 300 g;
• powdered sugar – 300 g.

The preparation steps are as follows. You need to fry the nuts a little in a dry frying pan, let them cool, and then grind them. Powdered sugar needs to be dissolved over low heat, mixed with hazelnuts and the resulting mass placed on parchment. After hardening, grind everything in a blender - this is about 15 minutes, until it becomes viscous. Next, pour in the melted chocolate and then whisk. Place the resulting sweetness on parchment, where it is carefully leveled. After cooling, you can cut it into pieces with a hot knife.

Simple recipe

The simplest recipe is considered to be the following. It consists of the following components:

• glass of sugar
• 150 g light honey
• half a glass of water.

Cook all the listed ingredients after bringing to a boil for about 10 minutes over high heat. At the same time, beat a couple of egg whites until fluffy, then gradually pour into the hot syrup. Be sure to stir, you can add nuts there, although it will turn out delicious without them.

Important: place the finished mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with more parchment on top and leave to cool. After the frozen nougat is cut into pieces with a wet knife, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

White nougat

Cooking white nougat will be interesting for many housewives. You will need:

• 1/2 glass of water;
• 2 chicken egg whites;
• 2 tablespoons of honey or molasses;
• a glass of sugar;
• 4 tablespoons of milk powder or cream.

Mix water with honey and sugar in a non-stick pan, cook the mixture until sticky. If you can already make “strings” from the composition, then the process is completed. Separately, beat the whites until thick and very slowly and carefully pour the white foam into the cooked mixture in a thin stream. Beat everything well and slowly add the milk powder. At this point, we can say that the white nougat is ready.

All that remains is to place the product on pastry paper and leave to cool. Next, cut into pieces - the dish is ready.

Place peanuts on a plate and spread into an even layer. Place in the microwave for 3 minutes, then remove the husks. After this, we begin to prepare the syrup by mixing honey, water and sugar. Set the resulting mixture to simmer over low heat, and as soon as it boils, continue cooking for another 10-14 minutes and turn off. I want to emphasize that, in principle, you can take any nuts. Grinding them or leaving them whole is a matter of taste.

Begin beating the egg whites with a mixer until foam forms. As soon as it appears, pour in lemon juice and add vanillin. After this, once the syrup is ready, we begin to add it. Pour in the syrup gradually, in a thin stream. As a result, you will get a thick mass that will need to be beaten for about 15 minutes.

And just now we add the prepared peanuts to our mixture. Mix the whole mass using a regular spoon. The mixture will be very thick, so extra effort will be required. Pour it in a small layer into any convenient form and put it in the freezer overnight. The nougat is ready, you can cut it into pieces. Bon appetit!

Nougat at home - recipe with photo:

Prepare the syrup. To do this, pour all the granulated sugar into a deep saucepan with a thick bottom and add water to it.

Place the saucepan on the fire and bring the mixture to a boil over low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir the sugar solution only until it boils! Boil the syrup for 5-7 minutes over medium heat to a temperature of 112-114 C. If suddenly during boiling you notice that sugar crystals have begun to form on the walls of the pan, be sure to wash them off with a damp brush.

Add honey or invert syrup to the syrup and stir.

Return the saucepan to the heat and boil the syrup for 15 minutes to a temperature of 135-140 C.

When the thermometer shows 120 C, pour the egg whites into a large, clean, dry bowl. Beat the whites with a mixer until stiff foam is obtained.

Without stopping beating the whites, remove the hot syrup from the heat and, without letting it cool, pour it in a thin stream into the whites. Please note that you need to pour the syrup onto the side of the mixing bowl, being careful not to get it on the mixer beaters, since if the syrup gets on the beaters, it can immediately harden, forming caramel threads, which will make it difficult to beat properly mass. After adding all the syrup, beat the whites until they cool to room temperature and become thick and viscous.

Add pre-roasted and peeled peanuts to them.

And stir the mixture thoroughly so that the nuts are evenly distributed. By the way, if you wish, you can replace peanuts with other favorite nuts or take a mixture of several types.

Line a 22x22 cm mold with baking paper. Place the prepared mass into it and level it over the entire surface of the mold. You can take a slightly smaller mold (20x20 cm or 18x18 cm), then the nougat will turn out a little thicker.

Cover the surface of the nougat with another sheet of parchment and compact the mass well. Place the homemade nougat pan in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight until it sets completely.

Remove the finished homemade nougat with peanuts from the refrigerator and cut into portions. To ensure that the mass sticks to the knife as little as possible during slicing, moisten the blade in hot water (only after that do not forget to wipe it dry).

That's all! As you can see, the recipe for nougat at home is quite simple!