Nougat de Montélimar is a traditional French recipe for a classic sweet (candy) of nuts in a sugar and honey nougat base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic French version of: Nougat de Montélimar.
Arrange the almonds and pistachio nuts on a baking tray. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the nuts are nicely toasted.
Set a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, so that the bowl just touches the water. Add the honey to this and stir until runny. In the meantime, add the 400g sugar to a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat slightly and continue cooking the sugar until it reaches 125°C, as measured on a confectioner's thermometer. Take the sugar mixture off the heat and carefully turn pour into the honey, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be careful not to splash yourself). Turn this mixture back into the sugar pan, put back on the heat and continue heating, stirring constantly, until it reaches 140°C.
In the meantime, add the egg whites to a clean and dry bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until they stand in stiff peaks. Now take the hot honey and sugar mix and, a small amount at a time, work in to the beaten eggs. The mixture should begin to thicken almost immediately as it cools. Keep the mixer at medium to high (this can be difficult as the nougat will be very stiff). This is where you beat the air into the nougat, which makes it both white in colour and fluffy in texture. After about six to eight minutes' beating, the mixture will begin to form a ball around the beater and have the consistency of a very thick chocolate chip cookie dough with the stickiness of toffee. At this point stir in the toasted nuts, the powdered sugar and the vanilla extract.
As soon as the nuts have been incorporated and evenly distributed, pour the nougat mix into a pan that has been greased and lined with greaseproof paper (a tin about 22 x 35cm is ideal). It will be thick and you might need an extra hand to get it out. Smooth the batter out evenly and cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper then use a rolling pin to smooth it out evenly. Set aside to cool completely and harden over night.
The following day, unmould the nougat onto a cutting board and slice it lengthways into strips. Now slice those strips into pieces of the desired size. Wrap each individual piece of nougat in cellophane or greaseproof paper and store in an air-tight jar.
