Nicole’s Recipes

Nougat center:
3 c. sugar
1 1/3 c. light corn syrup
1 c. water
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
¼ c. melted butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/8 tsp. Salt.

Caramel Coating:
2 c. sugar
1 ¼ c. light corn syrup
1 ½ c. light cream (you can’t really buy light cream anywhere-use mostly half and half with a little cream added)
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. Salt
1 ½ lbs. Coarsely chopped pecans ( about 6 c.)

To make nougat, combine ¾ c. sugar, 2/3 c. corn syrup and ¼ . water in 1 ½ quart heavy saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves; then boil to soft ball stage – 238 degrees. Pour syrup over beaten egg whites, beating constantly until slightly cool: this takes about 5 minutes. Spoon into well-buttered bowl and make a well in the center. Let stand while you make the second syrup.

Combine remaining 2 ¼ c. sugar, 2/3 c. corn syrup and ¾ c. water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking to the hard ball stage – 258 degrees.Pour syrup immediately into center of egg white mixture in bowl. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed. Stir in butter, vanilla and salt.Let stand, beating occasionally, until mixture is very stiff and holds its shape. Transfer from bowl into waxed paper lined 8” square pan. With buttered fingers, press it into pan. Keep in the refrigerator until very firm – for 2-3 hours or days.

Turn the firm candy onto cutting board and remove waxed paper. Cut in half and then in half again, making 4 small squares. Cut each square into 4 logs of equal size; you’ll have 16 small logs. You are now ready to make the caramel coating.

To make caramel coating, combine sugar, corn syrup and ½ c. cream in 2 qt. Heavy saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves; cook to soft ball stage – 236 degrees. Slowly add ½ c. cream and cook again to soft ball stage – 236 degrees. Add remaining ½ c. cream and cook mixture to firm ball stage – 242 degrees; sir often as caramel mixture thickens. Remove from heat after it reaches 242 degrees and stir in vanilla and salt.

Pour mixture into top of double boiler set over hot water. Gently drop nougat logs, one at a time, into caramel (work quickly with 2 forks), coating thoroughly; hold log over caramel to drain slightly. Drop logs into shallow dish containing nuts and roll to coat. When cool wrap logs in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator at least 5 hours or for weeks. I usually wrap them as soon as I take them from the nuts. When ready to serve, cut in ½ inch slices. Makes 4 ¾ pounds.

Yields about 10 dozen 2 inch cookies
Once the layers get rolled together these become slice and bake cookies. You can freeze the dough for up to 3 months before baking them.

3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp. table salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
10 oz. (1 ¼ c.) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 ¼ c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. instant espresso powder ( I didn’t have any so used some regular instant)
2 T. boiling water
3 T. unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate melted and still warm

Sift together the flour, salt, and soda. In mixer cream butter on low speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add sugar in a steady stream and mix for another 2 min. Add Egg and vanilla and mix till well combined scraping bowl as needed. Reduce mixer speed to low and add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just until combined. Remove 2 c. less 2 Tbs. And set aside.

Dissolve the espresso powder in the boiling water and set aside briefly to cool. Then mix the espresso and cocoa powder into the remaining dough. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the warm melted chocolate and mix just until thoroughly combined.

To shape: Divide each flavor of dough into 3 equal parts and shape into a 5 x 5 inch square on a piece of plastic wrap and wrap well. The chocolate will be thicker than the vanilla. Refrigerate for 30 min. Prepare twelve 12inch squares of waxed paper. Roll each piece of dough into a 7×7 inch square between two pieces of waxed paper. Refrig. For 10 – 15 min on a cookie sheet still in paper. Remove one square of each flavor from fridge and place together after removing top paper. Roll gently together with rolling pin. After removing top waxed paper, start rolling like a jelly roll using the bottom paper to help roll it up. Try to roll tightly so no spaces are left in the middle. Then roll cylinder back and forth a few times to elongate it and to compact it. Transfer it to a 15 inch sheet of plastic wrap. Roll tightly, twisting the ends of the plastic firmly to seal. With your hands on either end of the log, push firmly toward the center to compact the dough. It should be about 9 inches long and 1 ½ inches thick. Repeat with remaining dough. Refrigerate until firm enough to slice about 3 hours or freeze.

Bake on parchment lined sheets at 350 just until set about 12-14 min. Let stand 1 min and then transfer to rack to cool.

You can always exchange the grains for different ones. If you use more wheat, you can decrease the baking powder. If you use all wheat decrease it to 1/2 c.

6 c.wheat
1 c. barley
1 c. rye
1 c. brown rice
1 c. oat groats
4 c. dry milk
1/4 c. sugar
4 tsp. salt
1 c. baking powder
Mix grains together and mill into flour.
Add remaining and mix well.

To make the pancakes:

1 c. pancake mix
1 T. oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 to 3/4 c. water

Just mix until ingredients are combined, adding water to desired consistency.

Yield : 15- 3 ” pancakes