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Nougat for Dipping

A sweet nougat made by whipping egg whites and cooking sugar mixtures, then adding almonds and flavorings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Nougat for Dipping

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Whip the egg whites in a kettle until stiff.

  2. Combine glucose, sugar, and water in another kettle. Heat and stir the mixture until dissolved. Cook the mixture to 250°F (120°C).

Make the nougat

  1. Pour half of the mixture over the egg whites while stirring briskly with a wooden paddle.

  2. Cook the remaining mixture to 260°F (127°C). Pour the remaining mixture over the egg whites.

  3. Combine sugar, glucose, a little water, and grease in the kettle. Cook the mixture to 270°F (132°C). Pour half of this mixture over the egg whites.

  4. Cook the other half to 280°F (138°C). Pour the other half over the egg whites.

  5. Add vanilla and rose extract. Stir in the almonds until thick.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture onto a greased slab between iron bars, about ½ inch thick. Allow the mixture to cool completely.

  2. Cut the cooled nougat into ½ inch by 1½ inch pieces. Dip the pieces in sweet coating.

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. Vanilla + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  3. Rose + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Vanilla + rosetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together456 recipes

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

  5. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whipped to form a foam that gives the nougat its light, airy structure.
Glucose
Inhibits sugar crystallisation, keeping the nougat smooth and chewy rather than grainy.
Sugar
Sweetens and, when cooked to high temperatures, sets the nougat into a firm, chewy body.
Almonds
Add texture and crunch that contrast with the soft, chewy nougat.
Grease
Adds fat that softens the texture and gives the nougat a tender bite.

The step that matters

Pouring the hot syrup over the egg whites. The syrup must be poured in a thin stream while beating briskly. Pouring too fast or without stirring can deflate the foam or cook the whites unevenly, and the final texture depends on the foam staying light.

“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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