Nougat is basically a caramel whisked into egg white. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you can customise it with all sorts of flavours: different dried fruits, nuts, orange zest and spices. Go and experiment. You will need a sugar thermometer for this.

Prep 10 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4-6

40g hazelnuts
40g almonds
50g dried apricots
50g dried cherries
1 large egg white
250g granulated or caster sugar
50g golden syrup
50g honey

Roast the nuts at 200C/390F/gas 6, for six to eight minutes, until browned. Chop the dried apricots the same size as the dried cherries.

Have the egg white ready to whip in the bowl of a stand mixer. Put the sugar, syrup and 100ml water in a pan, and heat over a medium flame, stirring gently to dissolve the sugar. Brush down any sugar crystals from the side of the pan with a wet pastry brush.

Once the mixture starts to boil, stop stirring ( the sugars may recrystallise if you do). Continue to boil until it reaches 145C.

Take the pan off the heat and pour in the honey. Swirl it around the pan until evenly mixed, then return to the heat. The mixture will bubble up; continue to heat for a further few minutes until it’s back to 145C.

Meanwhile, turn the stand mixer on high to whip the egg white to stiff peaks. Turn off the mixer, pour a little of the molten sugar into the egg foam and pulse for a few seconds until mixed, then repeat, adding a little sugar syrup at a time, until you’ve used it all up. Continue to whip on high for two minutes, until it starts to thicken, then stir in the nuts and fruit.

Pour out on to a sheet of greaseproof paper, spreading it out into a roughly rectangular shape. Top with another sheet of paper, then roll into a 2cm-thick slab.

Once completely cooled, peel off the paper and use a sharp knife to cut into strips.