Doña Pepa nougat

El Doña Pepa nougat is a dessert from Peru that is made by a thick dough of flour in the shape of a stick covered with chancaca honey and decorated with small colored candies called dragees.

According to its history, it is said that in Peru there was a historical event and it was that a viceroy organized an award-winning contest, which consisted of the preparation of a pleasant, nutritious food that could be preserved for several days. Given this, the winner was Mrs. Josefa Marmanillo placeholder image who prepared the nougat and won, baptizing his creation with his nickname, Doña Pepa, a pseudonym that has been used and maintained to this day.

At present, this dessert is in charge of opening the celebrations and traditional festivals in Peru Of October. In addition, it is popular for being the main desktop in the purple month where the Lord of Miracles and the devotion to him are commemorated.

However, for those who need to know what their taste and dispositionToday we present its recipe, so that you can learn and always have it ready for those days when its presence is required and you enjoy it to the fullest with your friends, family and relatives.

Doña Pepa's Nougat Recipe

Ingredients

For the dough

• 3 tablespoons of anise
• 1 cup water
• 5 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 500 gr of vegetable shortening
• Yolks 6
• 4 tablespoons of sesame seeds, toasted and ground

For honey

• 6 cups of water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 cloves
• 2 oranges, cut into 4
• 1 quince cut in four
• 1 pineapple rind
• 3 cups of sugar
• 4 cups of panela
• 2 fig leaves

For the cover

• 1 cup of colored sprinkles to taste

Additional utensils

• Airtight pots or containers
• Food processor or blender
• Rectangular molds
• Film or plastic paper
• Wooden pallet
• Whip balloon

Preparation

For the dough

1. Inside a pot make a infusion with the water and the cup of anise. Bring to the boiling point, turn off the flame and cool without straining
2. With a food processor, stir in the flour, salt, and shortening until everything looks like oatmeal
3. Add the egg yolks and the water with the aniseed little by little until a dough forms that do not stick in the hands. Book
4. On a table previously floured, place and knead the mixture lightly. Also, stir in the toasted sesame seeds. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 continuous hour
5. As time passes, remove from fridge and place on a table to perform the following steps
6. Divide the dough in small portions and form toothpicks the length of the mold from which the nougat will be assembled
7. Arrange the chopsticks in a greased mold and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and dry. When they are ready, turn off the heat and let it rest in the oven until cool. Remove them from the mold and stretchels on grids. Booking

For honey

1. In a saucepan place the water, cinnamon, cloves, oranges, apples, quince and pineapple peels and boil over high heat until the fruit is very tender and smooth.
2. Strain and discard the solids
3. Return the excess water to the fire together with the sugar, the panela and the fig leaves until it takes soft ball point and its consistency becomes thick. Cool to room temperature

For the assembly

1. In a separate mold place a layer of sticks (mass). If you have any holes, fill them with broken and damaged sticks. Try to make the base good couple
2. Bathe with honey this layer and add another on top but this time in the opposite direction and again, add a layer of honey. Continue like this until finished with the ingredients
3. At the end, spray with the candied and serve your diners

Tips and recommendations

For a better elaboration of the Doña Pepa nougat, here we will indicate various tips so that you are safe on the journey you intend to undertake. Some of them are:

• If you don't want a runny or dirty look every time you put the honey between the layers of the nougat, you can complete the empty spaces with sticks or crumbs of other pieces that have been broken
• Honey has to be perfect. No can be very runny since it will wet the biscuits for more and they will not resist the weight of those that will be on top, therefore they will not stand up
• If you want you can strain the anise water to remove the seeds of this plant. If that bothers you, before integrating the water with the dough, you can remove them without problems
• You constantly follow the recipe to achieve an excellent preparation. Otherwise, if you deviate from the weights and portions, the nougat will not come out with the same characteristics observed.
• Before being used, the oven must be preheated to 180 degrees C to make the cooking process quick and easy

Nutritional contribution

 This small nougat of approximately 100 gr is equivalent to three loaves with butter and jam, which makes it one of the desserts with the highest caloric content in Peru.

Likewise, it is a dish that provides between 400 Kcal per serving, 14.0 grams of fat, 36.0 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of protein. As well as others nutrients on the table:

• Saturated Fat 6.5%
• Sodium 130 mg
• Fiber 1.0 gr
• Proteins 2.0 gr

Nougat characteristics

This sweet is made under a smooth dough of wheat flour, filled with honey and covered with colored confections. However, each of these parts contains a delicious and very complete description that makes the dish unique and unrepeatable. These are:

• Pasta

The pasta or chopsticks are the ones that give the nougat structure. In addition, they are the ones they retain all the honey within its walls and allow smells and flavors to be concentrated in a single bite.

Popularly, they are made from flour, anise essence, milk, egg, butter, and cinnamon. But, in some preparations, we will see ingredients simpler and easier thus giving full prominence to the filling and its flavor.

• Chancaca honey

Honey is the main author of the recipe, because it gives the sweet and nougat flavor characteristic of the dessert.

This honey is not only prepared from chancaca (first honey or unrefined molasses from sugar cane), but there are several ingredients that are boiled next to water and acidic fruits, spices and flavorings.

• Dragees and candies

As a tradition, the Doña Pepa nougat It is decorated with different types of dragees, candies or chocolate dots. These include the following:

• Dragees: They are tiny areas of different colors, these are the ones that are initially in charge of giving color to the preparation. Likewise, they occupy most of the deck
• Candy balls: Are wider volume compared to lozenges. They come in different colors and sizes. These are big and small
• Sticks: These are elongated and of various colors. They can come from chocolate or caramel
• Figurines: Conclusion flat and they present various colors and particular shapes such as stars, medals, hearts, moons, circles, among others

Fun facts

About Doña Pepa nougat curious facts abound, but the most outstanding are described as follows:

• On October 18, the "Largest nougat in the world" which reached 307 meters long and was prepared by the students of the "Institute of Haute Cuisine of D'Galia" in the "Parque de los Próceres de Jesús María"
• Likewise, on October 5, 2013, the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, with the support of the Sub-management of Health, organized the competition for "The biggest nougat" where specialists in the preparation of the traditional sweet elaborated one of 200 meters in the park of the Reserve "Circuito Mágico del Agua"
• In 2008 it is estimated that the production of “Doña Pepa nougat " it reached 540 thousand kilos only in three thousand bakeries grouped in the "Peruvian Association of Bakery and Pastry Entrepreneurs"
• During the viceregal and republican times there was a trade exclusively for the sale of nougat, known as "Nougat "or" Turronera"Who were presented in chronicles and costumbristas watercolors like those of Pancho Fierro
• In Peru, there is a commercialized candy known as "Doña Pepa"In clear allusion to the" Nougat "which is a cookie dipped in chocolate and covered with colored dragees