A hairdryer is the secret to making great nougat. Yes, really.

Pastry chef and chocolate queen Kirsten Tibballs shares the secrets to making sweet, chewy nougat at home.

Chocolate nougat Source: The Chocolate Queen

If you’ve ever idly thought of one day trying to make your own sweet, chewy, nut-studded nougat, pastry chef Kirsten Tibballs is here to tell you everything you need to know to turn “one day” into “now”.

The transformation of sugar, glucose, egg whites and honey (and if you love chocolate, like Tibballs, some of that too) into squares of chewy nougat is a kind of kitchen magic, and entirely doable if you have three things: a good stand mixer, a candy thermometer and the patience to leave it cool for a few hours before you eat it! A hairdryer could be handy too – that’s one of the tricks that Tibballs, who has been teaching nougat making for years, uses to keep the sweet, sticky mix at the right temperature.

Some nougat styles are soft, some are chewier. And some sweets called nougat don’t use egg whites.

“There are different types of nougat in different parts of the world and even nougat as we know it is called by different names. In Spain and Italy, it is called torrone. In Switzerland and Germany, nougat is caramel and nuts without egg white, which some countries call black nougat,” Tibballs explains.

Here, we’re talking about the nougat/torrone styles that are popular in Italy and France.

During her career as a pastry chef, and at Savour, the pastry school she founded in Melbourne 17 years ago, Tibballs has made all kinds of nougat.

“I always like to have a repertoire of food gifts that I can give to other people. I  always want something that looks beautiful when wrapped, has a really long shelf life, and tastes divine. This nougat ticks all of those boxes,” says Tibballs of her chocolate nougat recipe, which she shares in her TV show, The Chocolate Queen.

Here are her top tips for success when making nougat.

• Before you start making the nougat, sieve together equal quantities of corn starch and icing sugar to dust the surface of a  lined tin, and for the top of the nougat once you press it in the tin, to help keep it dry.
• The first step is making a sugar syrup. “We always place the water in first, so that the sugar doesn't catch on the bottom,” Tibballs says. Then add the sugar and glucose -  the sugar syrup also includes glucose, as this helps prevent the sugar re-crystallising after it has dissolved.
• Use a sugar thermometer to monitor the temperature of the syrup. When it reaches 110 °C, that’s the signal to start prepping two other components. Keep heating the syrup while you begin whisking egg whites and heating honey. This is one of the keys to success: You want to add your honey, and then the sugar syrup, to the whipped egg white without waiting too long in between, Tibballs explains, so starting those other parts when the syrup has hit  110 °C will have everything ready at just the right time. (Use the temperatures given in her recipe to determine when the honey, and then the sugar syrup, are ready to be added to the whipped egg whites. Don’t add them both at once.)
• When whisking the egg whites and cream of tartar, it’s important that it doesn't have any egg yolk in there. Egg yolk contains fat, and the egg whites won't whip up if there's any yolk at all present.
• How long you beat the mixture determines how firm your nougat is. “You can control the consistency of your nougat,” Tibballs says. Test the nougat consistency before adding in the nuts, chocolate or other additions by dropping a pinch of nougat in some chilled water to determine the texture. If you love a really soft nougat, you would add in all your other ingredients relatively early in the mixing process. “If you prefer the nougat to be a little bit firmer and you want to cut it into squares … heat it up a little bit more with a hairdryer.”  Move the hairdryer around the bowl of the stand mixer continuously, so it doesn’t burn. When you’ve reached your desired consistency, you can add chocolate, if using, and then nuts and fruit.
• If adding nuts, keep them warm before adding to the mixture. This is because “it's important with all stages of the nougat that we keep it warm for as long as possible,” Tibballs explains.   While the chocolate nougat Tibballs makes in The Chocolate Queen uses almonds and pistachios, you could also use glacé fruit, or swap for other types of nuts.
• When the nougat is ready, press it into the prepared tin and then dust the surface with more cornflour-icing sugar mix and flatten the top. “Because nougat has so much sugar, it can go a little bit moist if it's left open or not covered, so this helps to seal it a little bit.” It will also stop it sticking to your hands when you press it out in the tin.
• Leave to cool at room temperature, not in the fridge, or the texture will change.
• Use a serrated edge knife to cut the cooled nougat. Lightly oiling the knife can also help cut cleanly.
• Once cut, either serve the nougat straight away, store it in an air-tight container, or wrap the pieces in cellophane, otherwise, the pieces will absorb moisture and go soft quite quickly.

Nougat is one of the recipes Kirsten teaches through her online lessons at Savour. It's also included in the school’s hands-on Chocolates and Pralines Level Two Class. And while wrapped squares or strips make a perfect gift, nougat also stars in Kirsten’s popular Neptune Bar:

You can also use nougat in recipes such as Shane Delia's Barberry nougat-filled doughnuts, where he makes pistachio-barberry nougat and then uses it in his golden doughnut balls; this chocolate Yule log, where melted chocolate nougat is part of the decadent filling; or this Torrone and cherry dark chocolate semifreddo, which where chewy Italian nougat pieces star along with roasted almond praline and maraschino cherries.

Or play with flavours using this recipe for pistachio, cranberry and honey nougat, which includes Turkish delight & almond; Candied orange & chocolate; and Cashew & cardamom variations.