Wow Your Xmas Party Crowd With This Spanish Chocolate Treat

Ana Padilla Fornieles | Dec 23, 2021 6:34 pm | Add a comment | 135 reads

Hello, Beijingers! It’s me, Ana, your resident Spaniard. Here we are for a new edition of Christmas Away From Home, am I right? Hey, at the very least we can celebrate it. What’s on your table? For sure a turkey dinner, some Christmas market goodies, and of course seasonal items such as mince pies, mulled wine, cake, sugar cookies… I hope your turrón is ready too.

…No? Well then, your Christmas game is weak, at least as far as I’m concerned.

What is turrón, you say? Turrón is a nougat confection of southern European origin, usually shaped into a rectangular tablet or a round cake. The classic version is typically made of sugar, honey, egg white, and toasted almonds or other nuts. Countries such as Peru, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Cuba have their own spins.

For this particular piece of ground-breaking journalism, though, my sights are set on a very specific version that is sure to trigger memories of Christmas past for all my fellow Spaniards. Growing up, I only craved one kind of turrón – the chocolate and puffed rice kind, wrapped in a golden envelope and brought to you with great fanfare and catchy jingles by the Suchard brand.

Is it orthodox turrón? Not really. Did I care? Not one bit. Does my adult self still crave it? Every dang year. Do you see where this is going? I hope so.

You could certainly buy turrón Suchard on Taobao. You could also make your own, though. Follow this super easy recipe (Spanish source here) for a cheaper price and get twice as much turrón. Homemade means double the yums and probably better for you. Mind you, I’m not saying diet-friendly. If you’re looking for that…eat a carrot?

It’s not rocket science! It is highly customizable, though — feel free to add anything that tickles your fancy. Almonds? Dried fruit? I’m sticking to the basics. If you have kids, this is a fun recipe to try with them, but do be aware: melted chocolate gets really hot. Burning hot. Keep those small, chubby paws safe and do not lick your spoons, at least not until they've cooled off a bit!

Ingredients

Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 people

300 grams chocolate (I used 86 percent dark chocolate chips, you could go for a bar, as long as it melts good and it’s decent quality)
125 grams praline (for me, that meant any available brand of chocolate and hazelnut spread)
100 grams puffed rice (psst, That’s 大米花 Dàmǐ Huā in Chinese)

Method

In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate. If you have a kitchen thermometer, it should read 32 degrees celsius. If you don’t, just keep a low fire and stir frequently.

Take a bowl and spoon the praline in, then pour the melted chocolate on top. Mix well, then carefully add handfuls of puffed rice, slowly incorporating it into the chocolate mix. You might want to add more praline at this point.

Pour this mix into an appropriately shaped container. It’s time to cover it with saran wrap and chuck the container in the fridge for at least two hours. Pop them out and cut them into pieces.

One final tip: Turrón bars aren’t really meant to be thick. You’ll find yourself with plenty of the mix, though, so make two: one for you, one for a friend. Enjoy!