Candy

Chocolate Torrone.  How could it be bad?  And La Cucina Italiana Magazine comes through, again, with the perfect recipe.

I don’t really remember the first time I had torrone.  I know I was young and I liked the inside, but I really didn’t care for the rice paper coating.   It just seemed weird.

It was quite a few years later that I tried it again and a while later that I began to actually appreciate the rice paper.

La Cucina states: A traditional Italian candy, torrone ranges in texture from soft to firm. This one is soft with a good chew. Edible wafer paper, which is flavorless, adds textural contrast and helps keep bars of candy from sticking to one another.

This recipe is a bit time-consuming, but if you follow it exactly, you should end up with a damned fine candy!

Torrone al Cioccolato

• 4 (8-x-11-inch) sheets edible wafer paper or rice paper
• 2 cups hazelnuts
• ¼ cup water
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup clover or other mild honey
• 3 large egg whites
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Special equipment: candy thermometer

Instructions

Heat oven to 275º. Line the bottom of a 9-x-13-inch baking dish with rice paper.

Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet; bake until roasted and skins come off easily, about 25 minutes. Wrap nuts in a clean dishtowel; rub to remove loose skins.

Combine water and ¼ cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once sugar is dissolved, add chocolate and stir to melt; reduce heat to low to keep warm.

In a heavy medium saucepan, heat remaining 1 cup sugar and honey over medium-low heat until just beginning to bubble. Using a pastry brush dipped in cold water, wash any sugar crystals down side of pot. Put candy thermometer into syrup and continue heating, stirring occasionally, until mixture registers 315º (upper end of hard crack stage).

When thermometer reaches 300°, place egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk; beat until whites just hold stiff peaks. Remove syrup from heat and let stand until bubbles dissipate.

With mixer at low speed, slowly add syrup to egg whites in a thin stream down side of bowl; increase speed to high and beat until mixture doubles in size. Turn mixer off, let mixture settle, then return speed to high, beating until mixture begins to stick to whisk, about 5 minutes. Add chocolate and nuts; beat on medium speed to combine. Increase speed to high and mix until well combined, about 5 to 7 minutes more.

Spoon torrone mixture into prepared baking dish; spread to an even layer. Cover top with rice paper and refrigerate uncovered, until firm, about 8 hours.

Run a knife around edges of pan. Invert torrone onto a cutting board. Leaving wafer paper on, trim ends, and cut torrone into 1½-x-3-inch bars. Wrap each bar in parchment paper.

The recipe comes from La Cucina Italiana Magazine and it was extremely straightforward and easy to follow.  The candy did exactly what it said it was going to do in the recipe at every step.  It was great.  The one caveat is this is  a sticky, sticky candy.  And I do mean sticky.  I broke a heavy-duty spatula stirring in the nuts.  It was old, granted, but it was my favorite.  Oh well.

The only change I made was to use edible rice paper instead of cornstarch and parchment paper.  I laid out the rice paper on a sheet pan, spread the torrone on it, topped it with rice paper, rolled it to the desired thickness, and then cut it after it had cooled and set.

Sticky.

Torrone

Ingredients

• Cornstarch for dusting
• 3 cups whole blanched almonds
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup clover honey
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Finely grated zest of 1 large orange

Special equipment: parchment paper; a candy thermometer

Instructions

Heat oven to 350º.  Lightly dust a clean work surface with cornstarch. Line a 9- x 13- inch baking dish with parchment paper, letting excess paper hang over edges.

Spread nuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring once halfway through, until fragrant and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack; let nuts cool completely.

Put egg whites and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with whisk; set aside.

In a heavy 4-quart saucepan with candy thermometer attached, heat sugar and honey over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until mixture begins to simmer and sugar is mostly dissolved, 12 to 14 minutes (mixture will be very thick, then begin to loosen and turn cloudy). Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until candy thermometer reaches 280º degrees. Continue to cook mixture, stirring once or twice, until temperature reaches 315º. It will take the mixture about 15 minutes more to reach that temperature (the mixture will begin to foam and darken in color as temperature increases).

Meanwhile, beat egg whites on medium speed until firm peaks form. Add confectioners sugar and continue to beat until fully incorporated, about 1 minute more. Turn off mixer, leaving bowl in place.

When sugar mixture reaches 315º, remove from heat; stir until temperature reduces to 300º, 1 to 2 minutes, then carefully remove candy thermometer. With mixer on medium speed, slowly pour sugar mixture down the side of the bowl (egg mixture will double in volume, then decrease); continue to beat until mixture is cooled to warm and begins to lighten in color, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla and zest; beat for 1 minute more, then, using a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, fold in nuts (mixture will be very sticky).

Turn out candy onto prepared work surface; dust hands with cornstarch. Knead for 5 to 6 turns, then transfer to prepared baking dish. Dust hands with more cornstarch, then press candy to flatten and fill pan. Put pan on wire rack and let candy cool completely, about 1 hour.

Using parchment paper overhang, lift out candy from pan; cut candy into pieces. Layer in a sealed container, between sheets of parchment paper and let stand overnight, with container sealed and at room temperature, to dry, at least 8 hours or overnight. Candy can be kept, layered between sheets of parchment paper, in a sealed container at room temperature, for up to 3 weeks.