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Dessert

Cocoanut Nougat

A chewy confection made from egg whites, sugar, glucose, honey, gelatin, glycerine, paraffin, cocoa butter, and coconut.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cocoa butter share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 49 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Cocoanut Nougat

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 270°F (132°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the base

  1. Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.

  2. In a large pot, cook the sugar, glucose, and enough water to dissolve until it reaches 270°F (132°C). Turn off the heat. Let the whisk work.

  3. Add the beaten egg whites.

Make the nougat

  1. In another pot, heat the honey, dissolved gelatine, glycerine, paraffin, and cocoa butter until hot but not boiling.

  2. Combine the contents of both pots. Let the whisk work.

  3. Add macaroon coconut to taste.

  4. Spread the mixture in wafer-lined boards.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + cocoa buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together49 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sugar + honeytop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,932 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Egg + honeytop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Egg + cocoa buttertop 41% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together20 recipes

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whipped to foam, they trap air and give the nougat its light, airy structure.
Sugar
Cooked to 270°F, it forms the firm, sweet syrup that sets the nougat.
Glucose
Inhibits sugar crystallisation, keeping the nougat smooth and chewy rather than grainy.
Honey
Adds sweetness and moisture, and softens the texture of the set nougat.
Gelatine
Provides elasticity and body, helping the nougat hold its shape while staying tender.
Cocoa butter
Adds fat that gives a smooth mouthfeel and rich flavour.

The step that matters

Combining the two pots. The hot sugar syrup must be whisked into the whipped egg whites and honey mixture steadily so the foam stays aerated and the mass sets evenly rather than separating or deflating.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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