What Is Nougat? Torrone, Soft Nougat and How It Is Made

Nougat is one of the oldest sweets in Europe, and one of the simplest: honey, sugar and whipped egg white, cooked slowly and packed with nuts. Across Italy, Spain and France it is a Christmas staple, sliced thin and passed around after dinner with coffee.

What is nougat made of?

White nougat starts with egg whites whipped to stiff peaks. Hot honey and sugar syrup are poured in slowly while beating, then the mixture is cooked and beaten for a long time until it is thick and glossy. Toasted nuts go in at the end: almonds, hazelnuts or pistachios. The mixture is pressed between sheets of edible wafer paper so it does not stick, and left to set.

How long it cooks decides the texture. Longer cooking makes a hard, snappable nougat. Shorter cooking makes a soft, chewy one.

Hard nougat and soft nougat

Hard nougat snaps cleanly and is eaten in thin shards. It keeps for a long time.

Soft nougat is chewy and yielding, and it can be cut into soft bars or bites. It is often flavoured with citrus, chocolate or liqueurs.

Nougat around the world

• Torrone is Italian nougat, eaten across Italy at Christmas. Cremona in Lombardy is famous for it.
• Turrón is the Spanish version. Turrón de Alicante is hard; turrón de Jijona is soft and ground almost to a paste.
• Nougat de Montélimar is the French classic from Montélimar in southern France, made with honey and almonds.
• Nougatine is a related sweet that skips the egg white. It is caramelised sugar and nuts, more like a brittle.

Soft nougat to try

Borgo de Medici Dubai-Style Soft Nougat is a Dubai-style take on Italian soft nougat, inspired by the Dubai chocolate trend. It is from Italian producer Borgo de Medici, who also make our panettone. See what panettone is for more Italian Christmas baking.

Nougat and Turkish delight

Nougat and Turkish delight often sit side by side on the sweets table, but they are made quite differently. Nougat is set with egg white and honey. Turkish delight is set with starch. We explain that in what Turkish delight is made of, and you can try Real Turkish Delight Rose, made in Australia since 1974.

How to serve nougat

• After dinner, sliced thin, with espresso or a glass of dessert wine.
• On a cheese board, next to a hard cheese and some fresh fruit.
• Chopped into ice cream, or folded through softly whipped cream.
• In a semifreddo, the classic Italian frozen dessert.

How to store nougat

Keep nougat wrapped, at cool room temperature, away from humidity. The fridge makes it sticky and dulls the flavour. Hard nougat keeps for months; soft nougat is best eaten within a few weeks of opening. On a hot day it can soften, so keep it out of the sun.

Nougat as a Christmas gift

A bar of nougat is a classic Italian Christmas gift, and it suits a stocking or a place setting. For other sweet gifts, see our Christmas chocolates, Christmas stocking fillers and our full confectionery range.