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Those with a sweet tooth know - we certainly know - that Christmas in Spain begins when the packets of turrón appear on the supermarket shelves. A product that started off being, and strictly speaking should still be, made using almonds as its base ingredient. However, for years now the recipe has been perverted to the point that many brands have been omitting the almonds and adding doughnuts, marshmallows and even Iberian ham!
Let's be clear, today we are here to talk about turrón in its most classic form. The real deal. A bar made with almonds, honey, sugar and eggs. A best-seller whose recipe remains faithful to the turrón recipes of the old days.
At the Daver bakery, now in Calle Virgen de los Remedios in Ronda (previously in the famous Calle de la Bola in the same town and, even longer ago, an ice cream parlour in Calle Malasaña in Malaga), they have been dedicated to perfecting this sweet treat for three generations. Now, with the arrival of grandson David Verdú (his grandfather and father also bore the same name and surname) at the helm, they are also perfecting turrones of all kinds, including the toasted egg yolk variety. In his twenties Verdú went north to León specifically to study how this is made. "To prepare a marzipan-based turrón, basically the same procedure is used for all types: first the syrup is prepared, then the almond flour and finally the flavouring (eggs, ground almonds and powdered milk for the toasted egg yolk turrón)."
The first step is to make the syrup. To do this sugar and water are heated in a saucepan until the mixture reaches a temperature of 110 degrees. "It doesn't matter how much water you pour in because, at this temperature, all that remains are the solids as the water evaporates when it reaches 100 degrees. The only difference is that if you pour more water than necessary, it will take longer to reach the ideal temperature," Verdú explains.
To measure the temperature, they use a probe thermometer, ensuring that it does not touch the surface of the pan where the water with the sugar is boiling, as this could lead to a mistaken temperature coming up on the thermometer.
"It must remain floating", says Verdú, who is very thorough with the thermometer.
He is a master pastry chef who enjoys his work and organises it as though he were in a laboratory. He endeavours to explain the science behind making sweets: "The sweet is completely different from the savoury. Here there is no such thing as salt and pepper or taking temperatures by eye. Sugar at 110 degrees is syrup, but if we keep raising the temperature we get caramel. If we mix it with some citrus we get glucose and if we mix it with some acids we get invert sugar," he says, referring to when the dextrose and fructose in the table sugar (sucrose) separate, making the liquid more soluble and much sweeter.
These two changed states that can happen with heating sugar are, in fact, two of the next ingredients to be included in the recipe: glucose is used as soon as the syrup begins to reach a temperature to avoid the crystallisation of the sugars, "which could make the turrón crunchy where it shouldn't be".
Once it has reached the ideal temperature, a third of the almond flour (previously ground on the premises) is added and stirred into the same pan without turning off the heat. At the same time, another person mixes another third of the almond flour in a bowl with egg and invert sugar. The latter is used to preserve the juiciness as it absorbs moisture and prevents the turrón from drying out.
When the ingredients in the bowl are completely mixed together, its contents are poured into the pan. "Here it is very important to let it breathe and come back to temperature. We are adding moisture and it is very important to remove it as we add it," says Verdú as he whisks the two mixtures into one. He beats in a figure of eight because everything matters at this point.
"Otherwise, the temperature in the centre would be different from the edges and you would generate bubbles that can burn you." He knows that last point well. He cooks without gloves. He prefers to do it that way, even if he does get burnt from time to time. "With gloves I lose sensitivity, and you have to pay full attention to detail."
The remaining third of the almond flour is mixed with powdered milk. "Here it is very important that the powdered milk and almond flour are mixed very well, because lumps can appear when the mixture is boiled. And there is no way to get rid of that."
The two mixtures are then beaten together again. This time, however, the mixture is whipped with machinery for two reasons: firstly, the density of the mixture at this stage is much greater and makes it much more difficult to whip by hand. Secondly, the speed.
"Increasing the beating speed releases heat and lowers the temperature of the mixture. Although you have to be very careful because, if the speed is too high, the almonds end up releasing their oil and there is no one who can fix that," says Verdú. In fact, this is one of the ways to obtain praline.
The resulting dough, a pastel-coloured cement that would make the least sweet-toothed person salivate, is placed in a mould previously sprinkled with icing sugar and left to rest for at least 24 hours. The cement paste becomes a large, solid block that can be cut into smaller portions to form the more familiar, rectangular bars. It is toasted on top, giving it the characteristic appearance of the 'turrón de yema tostada' (toasted egg yolk nougat). The turrón is then sprinkled with caster sugar or icing sugar until it is completely white and then, with a portable hot iron - "It is very important that the iron reaches a high temperature. If it doesn't, the sugar will burn instead of toast" - lightly pat and dab the sugar, just catching that surface with the heat to give that golden, crunchy finish to the outer layer.
David has opened up his shop doors to welcome us inside and show us how he makes one of the most typical sweets of the season. Yet he keeps the exact quantities of each product tightly up his sleeve. The idea was to learn about the process, not to make a master baker's recipe public. Still, once you know how to make it you can always play around in the kitchen and try to replicate it at home.
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