INGREDIENTS
100 gm slivered pistachios
100 gm dried cranberries
50 gm almonds, coarsely chopped
50 gm glacé orange, diced
Confectioner’s paper
230 gm honey
60 gm eggwhite (about 2 eggs)
380 gm caster sugar
120 gm liquid glucose (corn syrup)
Finely grated rind of 1 orange and 50ml orange juice
METHOD
1
Preheat oven to 100C. Place pistachios, cranberries, almonds and glacé orange on an oven tray and warm in oven.
2
Grease the sides of a 20cm square cake tin, line base with confectioner’s paper, shiny-side down, and set aside.
3
Place honey in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When honey reaches 108C on a sugar thermometer (3-4 minutes), start whisking eggwhite in an electric mixer and whisk until firm peaks form. When honey reaches 120C (6-8 minutes), remove from heat and stop whisking eggwhite.
4
Stir sugar, glucose, orange rind, orange juice and 50ml water in a separate small saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and cook until mixture reaches 155C (12-15 minutes).
5
Gradually add hot honey to eggwhite while whisking on low speed, then increase speed to high and whisk while sugar syrup cooks.
6
When sugar syrup reaches 155C, reduce whisk speed to low, gradually add sugar syrup, then increase speed to high and whisk until combined and slightly cooled (3-4 minutes).
7
Add warm nuts and fruit and stir quickly to combine.
8
Spoon nougat mixture into lined tin and spread evenly with a hot palette knife. Press confectioner’s paper over nougat to cover and trim to fit.
9
Place another 20cm square cake tin on top of nougat, fill tin with weights or weight evenly with food cans and stand at room temperature until firm (overnight). Run a knife around sides of tin to loosen nougat, turn onto a chopping board, cut into pieces with a hot knife and serve. Nougat will keep stored in an airtight container for 3 months.
