Dead Man’s Nougat is a classic Neapolitan dessert prepared around All Saints’ Day and November 2nd, but its preparation continues until the Christmas festivities. It is a chocolate nougat made of a dark chocolate shell with a filling of white chocolate and hazelnut cream and whole hazelnuts. My version also contains puffed rice, making this dessert even crunchier and more delicious. In Naples, there are dozens of versions with pistachios, dried fruit, coffee, as well as more “modern” versions with various chocolates, and it can be purchased whole or in slices. I wanted to try the classic version, which you can find in the recipe that follows.
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 10-12
- Cooking methods: Double boiler
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Winter
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to prepare Dead Man’s Nougat with puffed rice.
- 10.5 oz dark chocolate
- 17.5 oz white chocolate
- 14 oz hazelnut spread
- 1.75 oz puffed rice
- 4.25 oz whole peeled hazelnuts
Tools
To prepare Dead Man’s Nougat you will need 2 medium bowls to melt the chocolate in a double boiler, a small pot, a silicone brush, and a loaf pan (preferably silicone).
- 1 Steel pot
Steps
The preparation of this dessert is not complicated, but it is quite lengthy, and you must pay attention to certain steps and follow certain precautions. If you want to see the steps, check out the video I just posted on Instagram.
Start by chopping the dark chocolate into small pieces and dividing it into 3 parts of 100g each. Continue by melting 100g of dark chocolate in a double boiler. Once all the chocolate is melted, pour it into the loaf pan and brush the entire inside well, forming the outer shell of the Dead Man’s Nougat. Then put the pan in the fridge for 30 minutes. After this time, melt another 100g of dark chocolate and repeat the operation. Be careful not to create areas that are too thick or worse, too thin with the chocolate. It should be brushed evenly over the entire inside of the pan. Put it back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
At this point, chop all the white chocolate into pieces and melt it in a double boiler in a fairly large bowl. When it is completely melted, add all the hazelnut cream and incorporate it with a spoon. Then pour in the whole hazelnuts and puffed rice and mix everything so that it blends well and uniformly.
Then take the loaf pan from the fridge, at this point the chocolate will be firm and cold, and pour the chocolate, hazelnuts, and puffed rice mix inside. Level it well, cover with aluminum foil, and put it back in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours. I left it overnight.
The next day, melt the last 100g of dark chocolate, take your Dead Man’s Nougat from the fridge, which will be well solidified, and brush the last layer of chocolate on the surface, which will become the base of the nougat. Put it back in the fridge one last time for 30 minutes. At this point, your Dead Man’s Nougat with puffed rice is ready to be enjoyed. Get a wooden cutting board, flip the nougat onto it, and remove it from the loaf pan, which will be very easy if you used a silicone one. Now, with a long, sharp knife, cut your first slice of Dead Man’s Nougat with puffed rice and enjoy this delicacy.
Saby recommends….
As mentioned earlier, there are many versions of Dead Man’s Nougat, and by changing the filling, you can prepare different versions with dried fruit, cookies, candied fruit, etc.
