Fail Nougat

Well well, what's all this then?

You missed me, admit it. Anyway, after working several weekends of 17hr days doing something I HATE, I've had a week off to reflect on the nowhere that my life is going. Hmmmm.

Anyway, cooking hasn't seemed as appealing as it normally does. Mostly because at the end of a 17hr day I just want to sleep, and at the end of a day off I mostly just want to get out of the house. I did manage to cook up a few things here and there. Today I present you with a vegan recipe for nougat that should be divine if you have a working candy thermometer (unlike mine).

So I had a craving for delicious fluffy nougat. (It always starts out so innocently.) Since most of these recipes start out with egg whites, I thought I'd search for vegan recipes and see what came up. I started with this recipe, then I "modified it".

Fail Nougat

3 cups sugar
1 cup light agave nectar (I had amaretto flavoured)
3/4 cup white corn syrup
1 1/2 cups water
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
3 drops pure almond oil
1/2 tsp salt
almonds and pistachios
The original recipe calls for vegan marshmellows. I used fake egg substitute, approx 3 eggs.

1. Mix up your fake eggs. (This recipe really gave me the opportunity to discover if you could "whip" fake eggs. Apparently you can, but only to a very soft peak, not stiff peak.)


2. Combine sugar, corn syrup (for god sakes WHITE corn syrup otherwise you end up with brown nougat, like I did), water, and agave nectar in a pot. Bring to a boil stirring constantly.


3. Once it boils, take the spoon out, drop the temp to about medium and continue boiling until it's 285 -295 degrees. 285 for soft nougat, 295 for harder nougat. You may want to check your candy thermometer for accuracy first (I didn't and my nougat turned out far too soft.)


4. While it's boiling, grease and icing sugar a dish or pan to put the nougat in to set. When it gets to the right temperature immediately pour it off into a heat proof dish to stop the cooking.


5. While still whisking (or mixing) the eggs, slowly pour in the warm sugar mix. Mix in the rest of the ingredients quickly. It will really start to fight you as it's cooling.

6. Once it's cool enough to handle, pull it out and press it into the greased pan. Let it cool overnight.


Despite the name of this recipe, your nougat should work out if you follow the instructions. I didn't include pictures of the finished nougat because it was brown due to the golden corn syrup I used, and it was too soft, resulting in a sticky goo.....mmmmmmm delicious goo. It really did taste good, it just wasn't nougat.....highly disappointing. I'll be trying it again using a white corn syrup and a working candy thermometer, so if you aren't brave enough to tackle this recipe now, stick around for the sequel.