Turrón with a twist
Sunday, December 8, 2019 @ 11:21 PM
Anyone who has ever spent Christmas in Spain will know that the Spaniards' go-to sweet treat at this time of year is turrón - a confection typically made with honey, sugar and egg whites, mixed with toasted almonds or other nuts.
Turrón comes in a variety of consistencies and appearances, and the final product may be either hard and crunchy, or soft and chewy. Thirty years ago, almost all turrón recipes followed the same specifications, but these days there are dozens of varieties: chocolate with puffed rice or whole almonds; all kinds of chocolate pralines, with or without liquor, candied fruits or whole nuts; fruit pralines; and even sugarless variations (sweetened with fructose or artificial sweeteners) and all are available in every supermarket up and down the country.
Traditional Spanish turrón is usually classified as either:
Hard (the Alicante variety): A compact block of whole almonds in a brittle mass of eggs, honey and sugar; 60% almonds. Often known as 'crystal turrón'.
Soft (the Jijona or Xixona variety): The almonds are reduced to a paste. The addition of oil makes the matrix more chewy and sticky; 64% almonds.
Every year, different varieties of turrón are launched. Many derive from commercial hook-ups with big brand confectionery companies and are often aimed at the children's market, like turrón with popular Oreo biscuits or Chips Ahoy cookies incorporated into it.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com