food photos

Bocconotti Calabresi (1)Bocconotti Calabresi (2)Bocconotti Calabresi (3)Stuffed Peppers with Yogurt and Feta (1)Stuffed Peppers with Yogurt and Feta (2)Silky Chocolate Buttercream (1)Silky Chocolate Buttercream (2)

recent posts

Magazine Mondays: Torrone!

Date: Mar. 23rd 2009
Category: Magazine Mondays
Email This | Add to del.icio.us

pistachiotorroneborder.jpg

Do you know what torrone is?

Torrone is the Italian name for a candy confection that we would refer to in English as nougat. It’s a chewy sweet that is most commonly enjoyed at Christmas time. Growing up, our holiday cookie trays always had pieces of torrone added to them both for decoration and for enjoyment.

Many people make torrone at home, but for the most part, I dislike those versions of torrone because they almost all feature marshmellows as the main ingredient.

Real torrone is usually made with honey, sugar, egg whites and other additions, most commonly almonds. But you can find all sorts of variations that include chocolate, different nuts, candied fruits and spices.

Most people that make it at home melt marshmellows to recreate the nougat consistency and then simply add in the nuts. I’ve always found these homemade versions of torrone to be sickly sweet and worse, if the marshmellows are old or if the torrone hangs around a bit too long, it’s far too difficult to chew.

As a torrone lover, I’m lucky that we’re able to find some of the very best brands in various Italian supermarkets in and around Toronto. But I am also most happy to tell you that thanks to the 2007 December issue of Gourmet, you can now make real Pistachio Torrone at home.

I bookmarked this recipe more than a year ago and finally got around to trying it this past Christmas. I was going through some pictures on my computer the other day and realized that I’d never posted about this recipe and I certainly didn’t want to wait for next Christmas.

I’m not going to lie to you. Making nougat is a bit tricky, mostly because it involves adding a hot sugar syrup to well beaten egg whites. If you’ve ever made a swiss meringue or certain types of buttercream you’ll know that this can be the beginning of an unpleasant situation involving hardened sugar, much cursing and lots of scraping.

But if you take your time and follow the steps carefully, you’ll end up with a lovely mellow nougat that’s beautiful to look at (pistachios make everything pretty) and fragrant (rosewater is officially my ingredient of 2009).

Another friendly tip: making torrone at home means buying rice paper, which is an edible paper often used in baking. I’m able to find rice paper at my local bulk food store but if you can’t locate it, try your nearest cake supply store or on-line cake supply source.

In other news, I’m happy to see that Magazine Mondays is really taking off! Remember, anyone can take part. All you have to do is send me a link to a magazine recipe that you’ve posted about. It doesn’t matter what day of the week you post your recipe, I always do the round-up on Mondays!

Here are all the people that have made a dent in their magazine pile this week:

Janie of Panini Girl had me drooling with a Sausage Stuffed Rack of Pork!

Jen of Baking and Dogs made some adorable Flourless Honey Almond Cakes.

Cathy of the blog Noble Pig (I love it … love it … love it) made it all easier for the rest of us by preparing The Lazy Cook’s Baklava.

I missed posting Wandering Coyote’s entry last week so here it is: Tilapia with Soy Sauce and Pineapple Scallion Rice.

Joy of The Cooking of Joy made some health Wok-Fried Edamame with Garlic.

Mandy from Australia (I love saying that …) and the blog Red Dirty Mummy sends along a Date Loaf that looks scrumptious!

Thanks to everyone that took part! Have a great week, everyone!

Ciao!

30 Comments


03/23/09 at 2:30 am

one of my favorite sweet treats, this looks delicious!


03/23/09 at 3:08 am

A delicious treat! I love Torrone!

Cheers,

Rosa


03/23/09 at 4:39 am

Never heard of Torrone before, actually - looks delightful!! Thank you for the description of it!!

AND HOORAY FOR MAGAZINE MONDAYS!! :-D


03/23/09 at 5:15 am

I would love to try it some time - looks yummy! :)


03/23/09 at 7:11 am

Oh I LOVE torrone. I eat buckets of the stuff at christmas. Now you can get it in all sorts of flavours and covered in chocolate but I only seem to like the original simple kind this. Never thought to make it before so will save me a small fortune - thanks!


03/23/09 at 7:34 am

Great round up! I’ve never heard of torrone, now I have to have it.


03/23/09 at 7:48 am

The torrone looks amazing and I don’t think I’ll be the only one making it this week… Thanks for sharing.


03/23/09 at 9:27 am

Did I miss sending you mine last week?

And pistachios do make things look pretty. I should pick some up.


03/23/09 at 10:13 am

I love this! I can’t believe you made these at home, how awesome!


03/23/09 at 1:20 pm

this looks awesome! so perfect and nice. Ideal as a present ;)


03/23/09 at 2:20 pm

torrone!! so good!

cheers,

*heather*


03/23/09 at 5:37 pm

Mmmm, I can’t believe you made torrone! It looks luscious — beautifully done!


03/23/09 at 8:31 pm

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, torrone! It has been too long since I’ve enjoyed it. Now I shall be whining and sniffling. I could make it, you are right I surely could. But it would break my resolve not to eat sweets right now.

Foolish girl am I.


03/24/09 at 1:04 am

I wasn’t much of a fan until I discovered the softer version and from here the main flavor is hazelnut, my personal favorite. So yum to this one another difficult recipe demystified. thanks for sharing!


03/24/09 at 10:39 am

What’s Christmas without torrone? It’s a tradition in my husband’s family that his parents would give each one in the family (adults and children alike) a torrone for Christmas. We all looked forward to receiving it on Christmas Day. This version with the pistachios looks amazing. I actually think I have that Gourmet issue. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Maybe I will start a tradition for Easter!


03/24/09 at 6:28 pm

yum yum yummy, i absolutely love torrone! last night i made the trekk to little italy and indulged in a some decadent chocolate covered turrone …oh and maybe a little of the hazelnut nougat layered turrone,just a tad….


03/24/09 at 6:47 pm

These look super yummy and a nice change from all the chocolate!


03/24/09 at 8:04 pm

This reminds me of what I used to eat when I lived in London and went to Borough market on the weekend. I’m excited to try this.


03/24/09 at 10:18 pm

This looks simply divine!

Jerzee Tomato

03/24/09 at 10:48 pm

I love torrone too. Ah memories of my childhood. Sitting around playing the torrone boxes. We would fold back one of the flaps on the small boxes and play them like kazoos.
The all torrone box orchestra lives on. LOL


03/25/09 at 1:21 am

We went to dinner the other night at our favorite pasta place in Nantes - the only real Italian restaurant run by real Italians - and they started selling boxed torrone! My husband drooled over it and I thought how much I would love to try making it. Thanks for showing this to me! It gives me that nudge I need.

And I may just join you for Magazine Monday next time!


03/25/09 at 7:34 pm

I love Torrone almost as much as Divinity!


03/26/09 at 1:18 am

Hi Ivonne… that looks great!
I wanted to let you know… I have bookmarked several of your recipes over the years, and the ones that come from before the move often don’t load the pictures anymore. I noticed it before, but I’m sorry: I didn’t write down which posts, because I thought it was a problem with my browser.
Today I noticed it with the post for Trote all’Astigiana. I don’t know if there’s anything you can do about this (or if you want to do anything at all), but I thought I would bring it to your attention.


03/27/09 at 7:30 pm

This reminds me of being a kid! Every Sunday after church we’d go to the Italian shop and my grandma would always buy me one of these. I loooved them. I applaud your efforts in making them- this is the kind of thing I’d be scared to attempt! Yours look perfect!


03/28/09 at 10:26 am

Your posts are always a treat to open in my email. I never know what delicious goodie will greet my eyes. Once the photograph is finally revealed, it always warms my heart. The anticipation is as good as actually tasting and eating. Thank you for the care and love you pore into your site. I have just shared the “One Lovely Blog Award” with you on my site.


03/29/09 at 5:39 pm

Wow that looks amazing. I have never had the homemade kind but I have had the store bought kind. Which I love by the way. But seeing yours, I know I would like yours much better.

So tell me, where exactly do you find the time for blog, DB, cooking/baking, work, homelife and Magazine Mondays?


03/30/09 at 12:58 am

I just adore torrone and usually end up bringing box after box back when I go to Italy ;) I will definitely try this recipe out, thanks for sharing.


04/3/09 at 11:47 am

I bookmarked the recipe but after reading all the reviews I was afraid it wouldn’t have the right consistency. So for Christmas I made a different recipe, result: not the right consistency! (their taste was delicious though) So I should have tried this one because yours look just perfect!

Amy

11/29/09 at 11:05 pm

Where can I get rice paper in Toronto? I checked Bulk Barns but they don’t carry it.

Post a Comment

extras

August 2010

Pestos, Tapenades, and Spreads: 40 Simple Recipes for Delicious Toppings, Sauces & Dips by Stacey Printz.

pestos-tapenades.jpg

Time to put all those herbs in the garden to good use! I’m loving this book!

Magazine Mondays

Click here for more info!

Subscribe

By Email:


By Feed:

RSS   Atom

before you go...