Nougat cake

How to make a nougat cake.

Yes, the lights put on the streets, company dinners and friends when they fall, Christmas sweets in all the supermarkets … yes, we can already say that we are officially with our heads at Christmas .

For those who visit the blog regularly, you will know that at Christmas I usually think of two desserts to make in Ourense at the family meal of the 24th. A few years ago, I prepared for that day, a nougat and dried fruit cake! , a complete success.

This dessert has evolved over the years, small variations so that this simple cake is a little richer, I have decided to republish it so that you can enjoy it just as I do.

For those of you who have just arrived at the blog, I recommend three desserts just as good as they are, the Xixona tiramisu , the glass of yogurt with nougat cream   and the nougat coulant .  

The Xixona nougat as the protagonist,  yes, I admit it, at home we are fans of this dessert, not only at Christmas, throughout the year we always have nougat ice cream in the freezer.

This dessert so famous in Spain and Latin America is a sweet dough obtained by cooking honey, sugars and egg whites, incorporating peeled and toasted almonds, and then kneaded, which is traditionally shaped into a rectangular tablet or cake, simply sublime .

I hope you like this Christmas dessert and enjoy it as much as I do, you will tell me…

Preparation of the biscuit base

1. We spread a very thin layer of butter in the mold.
2. Melt the rest of the butter using the microwave, so it is faster, with 1 minute at maximum temperature is enough.
3. With the mincer we crush the cookies (if you are celiac they must be gluten-free, you can find them in almost all supermarkets).
4. If you do not have a grinder, we put the cookies in a kitchen towel, wrap and crush them with a spoon or something heavy, it is not so fine but it serves the same, it should look like breadcrumbs.
5. In the same mincer, we chop until our favorite dried fruits remain as flour. I recommend walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds, but here you can add the ones you like the most.
6. We mix the melted butter with the sugar, a few drops of vanilla essence and a tablespoon of rum or brown liquor with some manual rods or a blender (this I leave to your liking).
7. We mix everything in a large bowl, the crushed cookies, the dried fruits and the butter mixture.
8. Distribute, spread over the base and press against the bottom with the help of a spoon or with your fingers.
9. We preheat the oven to 200º C for 10 minutes and introduce this biscuit base for about 5 minutes at about 180º C so that it hardens. We will ensure that the excess liquid evaporates a little and remains with that characteristic crunch.
10. We remove the mold and let cool to fill with the nougat cream.

Preparation of the nougat cake

1. We crush the rest of the almonds to a medium size, it should not be too fine but rather crocanti type. We are going to reserve these for the final process of the cake, this step is optional.
2. Prepare the soft jijona nougat and break it by hand and then with a fork or with the knife into small pieces.
3. We put the cream and the whole milk to heat in a large saucepan over medium low heat.
4. When it is hot (without boiling, just hot) we add the nougat. We leave over low heat to bring everything together helping us with a wooden spoon or with a touch of the mixer, the best option.
5. We turn off the heat and set aside the cream and nougat mixture. Add the eggs and the two tablespoons of sugar. We beat everything well until everything is well integrated, let it rest out of the fire.
6. We must pour over the base of cookies that is already warm, all the mixture that we have reserved little by little with a ladle, without breaking the base of the cookie.
7. It is best to do it directly on the oven plate so that the mixture does not dance.
8. Take as long as necessary until all the nougat cream is in the tart container.
9. The oven must be preheated to 200º C, 10 minutes before introducing the tart.
10. And the cooking of it will be between 30 and 40 minutes (as I mentioned in some other recipe, it all depends on the oven, always look with a fork that stays dry …).

Decoration and presentation of the nougat cake

1. When the cake takes 20 minutes in the oven it is time to add the chopped almonds, we put them on the surface with a thread of honey.
2. We let them roast and caramelize the honey, this is the one that will give a crispy surface to the cake.
3. This step as I was saying is optional, the cake will be just as good in both ways.
4. We remove from the oven and let cool outside it for a few hours.
5. We carefully unmold so that each one serves the piece they want.

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this recipe for nougat cake . Do not miss any detail so that it is delicious, they will make the wave at home.

Tips for a fluffy nougat cake

• This tart is a combination of the flavor of various nuts, almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts . Even if you have any more at home you can add it, in the video we have made for the recipe you will find all the tricks to make the recipe look perfect on you.
• It is as forceful as a tart from Santiago but less floury. The trick of the cake is the quality of its main ingredient,  almond or rather nougat .
• It does not need to be the most expensive, the white label works since you are going to mix it with many more ingredients.
• You can find crocanti almonds in almost all supermarkets already in this format or make them at home as we have done.
• When we put the nougat cake in the oven, better than when the cake has been in the oven for 10 minutes, cover it with aluminum foil to prevent the surface from burning. What we want is for it to bake well.
• My last recommendation, this cake earns a lot from one day to the next, and at best it is cold. Just yummy.