Red Velvet Nougat

One of the things I like most at Christmas is putting up the tree, I love it. I enjoy it just as much or more than when I was little. I must admit that I love this time of year for many reasons and one of them is the amount of wonderful sweets that accompany us during these holidays. There is such a wide variety that it is impossible for someone not to like at least one of them. Today we are going to focus on nougat, so versatile, wonderful and exquisite. So much so that we can make a nougat out of whatever comes to mind. Like this Red Velvet Nougat .

This year I've been very focused on cakes. Normally it's something I do once in a while, but this year I've had and suffered from a special fixation. So I thought I'd bring this little "object" to my table.

session" to nougat format and thus end and begin the next year surrounded by cakes. But in another format, hahaha.

A sweet that is never missing at Christmas.

If there is something that is bought in 99.9% of households at Christmas, I omit that small percentage because there will always be an exception, it is nougat. We can find a greater or lesser variety depending on the family, but there will always be something. More classic, traditional, modern, novel... Which makes you wonder why we don't dare to make them at home.

They are very easy to make, well it depends on the nougat, and the results are exceptional as well as gratifying. If you have never tried this sweet, you may prefer to opt for a simpler recipe such as chocolate and almonds or coconut nougat, marzipan... But I assure you that there is a very small step to making a very easy one to a slightly more elaborate one.

If you like Red Velvet, this nougat cannot be missing from your Christmas tray under any circumstances. I promise you, it is something out of this world.

Red Velvet Nougat

Ibili diamond-shaped nougat mold and pastry bag

To make it, we will need to prepare 3 preparations; a Red Velvet cake (it is not like the original, but the result is a very spongy cake with a bright color), a cream cheese and white chocolate ganache and the white chocolate coating . That's it. Easy, easy.

The cake is very similar to a Genoese sponge cake, except that we colour it with red food colouring. It will take about 10-12 minutes to prepare and only needs 8-9 minutes of cooking. In other words, you can't even drink a cup of coffee!

I saw the white chocolate and cheese ganache on Roberto from Postres con estilo . I was looking for a ganache that included cheese and I found his blog , which I had known for a long time, and I said: This man is my hero! You are going to love the result, it is wonderful.

Finally, the white chocolate coating. It is very easy to make since we only have to melt it in a bain-marie, but we have to temper the chocolate to obtain a good result.

To assemble it we will use one of these nougat moulds . In my case I chose the lattice one because it seemed very elegant for this nougat. They are very easy to use, clean and take up little space. In short, they have almost everything!

The result of this Red Velvet nougat is a nougat with a crunchy exterior, a thin layer of white chocolate, accompanied by a creamy interior thanks to the cheese and chocolate ganache along with a very juicy sponge cake... Seriously, happiness.

Ibili diamond-shaped nougat mould , WMF Gourmet stainless steel bowl and T&G pastry brush

Ingredients

For exterior coverage:

• 200 g white chocolate

For the white chocolate and cheese ganache:

• 130 g cream cheese at room temperature
• 150 g white chocolate
• 10 g inverted sugar

For the Red Velvet Cake:

• 185 g soft pastry flour
• 170 g of egg (3 units)
• 85 g of sugar
• 115 g of egg whites
• 70 g icing sugar
• 30 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• Extra Red red paste dye
• pinch of salt

For the syrup:

• 50 g of water
• 50 g of sugar

To decorate:

• Silver sprinkles of different sizes
• ruby powder

Preparation

FIRST DAY

We prepare the Red Velvet cake.

1. Preheat the oven to 205ºC with heat from above and below.
2. We line a perforated tray with baking paper . We set aside.
3. We sift the flour and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a KitchenAid or a mixer, add the eggs together with the sugar and salt. Beat, gradually increasing the speed without reaching the maximum, until reaching the ribbon stage* (see NOTES).
5. Once this point is reached, add red paste food coloring and beat again at medium speed until completely dissolved.
6. On the other hand, add the egg whites to a bowl. Begin to beat them with an electric whisk at the lowest speed and gradually increasing the speed without reaching the maximum.
7. As soon as they begin to foam, we will add the icing sugar little by little and beat at the same time.
8. Once we have incorporated all the icing sugar, we will continue beating until we obtain a firm and shiny meringue. We set aside.
9. We begin to add the dry ingredients, little by little, to the beaten eggs. We will do it with circular movements using a spatula .
10. We integrate the beaten egg whites into the mixture and homogenize with circular movements.
11. Finally, add the butter and mix again using gentle, enveloping movements.
12. We put the mixture into a pastry bag .

We bake.

1. To prevent the edges of the paper from lifting or moving when you pour the dough, place small “dots” of dough in the corners. This will keep the paper in place.
2. Cut the tip of the pastry bag and pipe the mixture. Make a rectangle and then fill the inside, trying to apply the same pressure at all times.
3. If we have more dough in the pastry bag, we will create lines around the rectangle.
4. Place the cake in the oven for 9-10 minutes. You will see that it acquires a light golden colour on the surface. Also, if you press the surface of the cake, it will return to its initial state.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a rack .
6. If we are going to use it the next day, once it is completely cold, cover it with film and leave it at room temperature.

We prepare the syrup.

1. Add all the ingredients to a saucepan. Place over medium heat and allow to boil. The sugar should have completely dissolved.
2. Once it starts to boil, turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
3. We put the syrup in a bottle, if we prefer we can pour it into a bowl or container, with the help of a funnel .
4. We reserve at room temperature.

We created the Red Velvet nougat topping.

1. We melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie.
2. We temper the chocolate until it reaches 28ºC, we will use a digital thermometer to know the temperature.
3. Pour the white chocolate into the nougat mould . Tilt it to ensure that all sides of the mould are covered.
4. We turn the mold over, tapping gently, to remove the excess white chocolate.
5. Let it cool at room temperature for 20 minutes.

We prepare the cheese and white chocolate ganache.

1. Before proceeding to make the ganache, remember to take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator a few hours before so that it reaches room temperature.
2. We melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie, it must reach 45ºC before we can use it. If the temperature has been exceeded while melting, we let it cool until it reaches the temperature I specify.
3. Add the inverted sugar to the white chocolate and mix.
4. Pour over the cream cheese and mix.
5. Using the blender, we beat to emulsify, we should obtain a soft, smooth and homogeneous mixture.
6. We put it into a pastry bag .

We assemble the nougat.

1. We cut the cake into a rectangle. Its length and width should be smaller than the total dimensions of the mould.
2. We soak both sides with syrup and set aside.
3. We pipe a base of cheese ganache and white chocolate. We will fill it a little less than half way.
4. We smooth it out to make sure there are no gaps.
5. Using a spatula, place the cake inside the mould . Try to keep it centred. Press gently.
6. We fill the sides and the surface with the ganache.
7. We smooth the surface with the help of a spatula . Remember to leave a little margin to cover the base with white chocolate coating.
8. Cover with film and refrigerate for 5-6 hours.

We seal the nougat.

1. We temper the rest of the white chocolate coating.
2. Pour into the mold and smooth out with a spatula to remove the excess.
3. We refrigerate for 24 hours.

Ibili diamond-shaped nougat mold

SECOND DAY

We unmold.

1. To unmold the nougat we must be careful not to force the mold or the nougat.
2. Carefully, we stretch the 4 ends to detach the mold from the nougat.
3. We carefully turn it over, we can place it on a board and turn it over. We will try not to touch the top at any time to avoid leaving fingerprints.

We decorate the exterior.

1. We melt a little white chocolate and proceed to stick the sprinkles on the surface. We let it harden at room temperature.
2. Sprinkle with ruby ​​powder and serve.

GRADES:

• It is important to use a good quality white chocolate to get the best possible result.
• The cream cheese I use is spreadable cream , like Philadelphia.
• In this recipe: Roasted pumpkin ice cream with hazelnuts you can see how to make inverted sugar at home. It can be stored in a cool, dry place for many months.
• The ribbon stage is obtained by beating the eggs together with the sugar for several minutes. The mixture takes on a whitish colour and the texture becomes very thick to the point where you can lift the whisk and form a cord or ribbon on the mixture without it deforming. Hence the name.
• The sponge cake will be larger than the amount we need to make the nougat . We can wrap it very well in film and freeze it to make more nougats at another time. Or we can use it for another purpose that we want.
• Respect the steps of the process, tempering of the chocolate and temperatures to obtain a good final result.
• The decoration is completely optional , you can decorate it the way you like best.

With this Red Velvet Nougat your family will be waving at you over and over again. From the moment they wake up in the morning until they go to bed, believe me. It's happened to me, hahaha. No, seriously, it's a combination of incredible flavours and textures.

When I thought about making it, I wasn't sure if the sponge cake interior would work, but it worked really well. It's a different and surprising contrast. I 100% recommend that you try it and tell us what you think ;)