When you are making treats for Christmas why not add some delicious homemade vanilla nougat for something a little different. Nougats are mainly associated with the Christmas season as delicious sweet treats are traditional in the holiday season. Various legends surround the history and origin of nougats. The early recipes of white nougat were possibly borrowed from Central Asia and were found in a Middle Eastern book around 10th century in Baghdad.
Nougat belongs to the family of confections that are made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts that might include hazelnuts, macadamia, almonds, walnuts and pistachios, chopped candied fruit and whipped egg whites. The consistency of nougats happens to be chewy and is used in variety of candy bars and chocolates.
The basic three types of nougats include the most common white nougat that appeared in Italy is made with beaten egg whites and honey. Second is the brown nougat that is crunchy and made without egg whites and the third one happens to be German or Viennese nougat which is basically nut and chocolate and the common nut used is hazelnut.
This recipe for vanilla nougat is from Epicurious. With Christmas being just around the corner, you can practice a special type of nougat before the big family dinner. See this delicious recipe of soft vanilla nougat and give your taste buds a treat!
