Red Velvet Nougat

One of the things I enjoy most about Christmas is putting up the tree; I love it. I enjoy it just as much, if not more, than when I was little. I must admit I adore this time of year for many reasons, and one of them is the amount of wonderful sweets that accompany us during these dates. There is such a wide assortment that it is impossible for at least one of them not to please someone. Today we are going to focus on turrones, so versatile, wonderful, and exquisite. In fact, we can make a turrón out of just about anything that comes to mind. Like this Red Velvet Turrón.

This year I’ve been very focused on cakes. Normally it’s something I do from time to time, but this year I’ve had and suffered from a special fixation. So I thought of bringing this little "ob

session" to the turrón format and thus finish and begin next year surrounded by cakes. But in another format, haha.

A sweet treat that is never missing at Christmas.

If there’s one thing that’s bought in 99.9% of households at Christmas, I’ll leave out that tiny percentage because there’s always an exception, it’s turrón. We can find a bigger or smaller assortment depending on the family, but there will always be some. More classic, traditional, modern, new... It makes you wonder why we don’t give making them at home a try.

They’re very easy to make, well, it depends on the turrón, and the results are exceptional as well as rewarding. If we’ve never tried making this sweet, you might prefer to start with a simpler recipe like chocolate and almonds or coconut turrón, marzipan... But I can assure you there’s only a very small step from making a very easy one to a slightly more elaborate one.

If you like Red Velvet, this turrón is an absolute must on your Christmas tray. I promise you, it’s out of this world.

Red Velvet Turrón

Ibili diamond turrón mold and piping bag

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

The sponge is very similar to a génoise sponge, except we color it with red food coloring. We’ll make it in about 10-12 minutes and it only needs 8-9 minutes to bake. Come on, you won’t even have time for a coffee!

I saw the cream cheese and white chocolate ganache from Roberto at Postres con estilo. Looking for a ganache that included cheese, I found his blog, which I had known for a long time, and I said: this man is my hero! You’re going to love the result; it’s wonderful.

Finally, the white chocolate coating. It’s very easy to make since we only need to melt it over a double boiler, but we have to temper the chocolate to get a good result.

To assemble it, we’ll use one of these turrón molds, in my case I chose the lattice one because it seemed very elegant for this turrón. They’re very convenient to use, clean, and take up little space. Come on, they have almost everything!

The result of this Red Velvet turrón is a turrón with a crunchy exterior, a thin layer of white chocolate, and a creamy interior thanks to the cheese and chocolate ganache along with a very moist sponge... Seriously, bliss.

Ibili diamond turrón mold, WMF Gourmet stainless steel bowl and T&G pastry brush

Ingredients

For the outer coating:

• 200 g white chocolate

For the cream cheese and white chocolate ganache:

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

For the Red Velvet sponge cake:

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

For the syrup:

• 50 g water
• 50 g sugar

To decorate:

• silver sprinkles in different sizes
• ruby powder

Preparation

FIRST DAY

We prepare the Red Velvet sponge cake.

1. Preheat the oven to 205ºC with top and bottom heat.
2. Line a perforated baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Sift the flour and set aside.
4. In the KitchenAid bowl or a mixer bowl, add the eggs along with the sugar and salt. Beat, gradually increasing the speed without reaching the maximum, until you reach the ribbon stage* (see NOTES).
5. Once this point is reached, add the red paste coloring and beat again at medium speed until fully dissolved.
6. In another bowl, add the egg whites. Start whipping them with electric whisks at the lowest speed and gradually increase the speed without reaching the maximum.
7. As soon as they begin to foam, add the powdered sugar little by little while whipping at the same time.
8. Once all the powdered sugar has been incorporated, continue whipping until you get a firm, glossy meringue. Set aside.
9. Start adding the dry ingredients, little by little, to the whipped eggs. Do this with folding motions using a spatula.
10. Fold the whipped egg whites into the mixture and combine with folding motions.
11. Finally, add the butter and incorporate again with gentle folding motions.
12. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag.

Bake.

1. To keep the corners of the paper from lifting or moving when piping the batter, place small dollops of batter in the corners. That way the paper will stay in place.
2. Cut the tip of the piping bag and pipe the batter. Make a rectangle and then fill the inside, trying to maintain the same pressure throughout.
3. If there is more batter in the piping bag, make lines around the rectangle.
4. Bake for 9-10 minutes. You will see it takes on a slight golden color on the surface. Also, if you press the surface of the sponge, it will spring back.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
6. If you’re going to use it the next day, once it is completely cool, cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature.

Prepare the syrup.

1. Add all the ingredients to a saucepan. Place over medium heat and let it come to a boil. The sugar should have completely dissolved.
2. Once it starts boiling, turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
3. Pour the syrup into a squeeze bottle; if you prefer, you can pour it into a bowl or container with the help of a funnel.
4. Set aside at room temperature.

Create the Red Velvet turrón coating.

1. Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler.
2. Temper the chocolate until it reaches 28ºC; use a digital thermometer to check the temperature.
3. Pour the white chocolate into the turrón mold. Tilt it so all the sides of the mold are coated.
4. Turn the mold over, tapping gently, to remove excess white chocolate.
5. Let it cool at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Prepare the cream cheese and white chocolate ganache.

1. Before making the ganache, remember to take the cream cheese out of the fridge a few hours earlier so it reaches room temperature.
2. Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler; it should reach 45ºC so we can use it. If the temperature has gone above that while melting, let it cool until it reaches the temperature I specified.
3. Add the invert sugar to the white chocolate and mix.
4. Pour over the cream cheese and mix.
5. Using a hand blender, blend to emulsify; we should get a smooth, even, homogeneous mixture.
6. Transfer to a piping bag.

Assemble the turrón.

1. Cut the sponge into a rectangle. It should be smaller in length and width than the total size of the mold.
2. Soak both sides with syrup. Set aside.
3. Pipe a base of cream cheese and white chocolate ganache. Fill to just under half.
4. Smooth it out to make sure there are no gaps.
5. Using a palette knife, place the sponge inside the mold. Try to keep it centered. Press gently.
6. Fill the sides and the top with the ganache.
7. Smooth the surface with a spatula. Remember to leave a little room to cover the base with white chocolate coating.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5-6 hours.

Seal the turrón.

1. Temper the remaining white chocolate coating.
2. Pour over the mold and smooth with a spatula to remove the excess.
3. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Ibili diamond turrón mold

SECOND DAY

Unmold.

1. To unmold the turrón, be careful not to force the mold or the turrón.
2. Carefully pull from the 4 ends to loosen the mold from the turrón.
3. Turn it over carefully; you can place it on a board and flip it over. Try not to touch the top at any time to avoid leaving marks.

Decorate the outside.

1. Melt a little white chocolate and use it to stick the sprinkles on the surface. Let it set at room temperature.
2. Dust with ruby powder and serve.

NOTES:

• It is important to use a good-quality white chocolate to get the best possible result.
• The cream cheese I use is spreadable cream cheese, like Philadelphia.
• In this recipe: Roasted pumpkin ice cream with hazelnuts you can see how to make invert sugar at home. It can be stored in a cool, dry place for many months.
• The ribbon stage is reached by beating the eggs with the sugar for several minutes. The mixture turns pale and the texture becomes very thick to the point that, when lifting the whisk, you can form a ribbon or band over the mixture without it losing its shape. That’s where the name comes from.
• The sponge will make more than the amount we need to make the turrón. We can wrap it well in plastic wrap and freeze it to make more turrón another time. Or we can use it for some other purpose we want.
• Follow the steps of the process, tempering the chocolate and temperatures to get a good final result.
• The decoration is completely optional, you can decorate it however you like.

With this Red Velvet Turrón your family is going to cheer for you over and over again. From the moment they get up in the morning until they go to bed, believe me. It happened to me, hahaha. No, seriously, it's a Set of incredible flavors and textures.

When I thought about making it, I wasn’t really sure whether the sponge interior would work, and it worked very well. It’s a different and surprising contrast. I 100% recommend giving it a try and telling us what you think ;)