Soft turron

The soft turron is possibly the best known and therefore the favourite at Christmas. One of its particularities is its unmistakable almond flavour, as it is the turron that contains the highest percentage. Because of this it is also known by many as almond turrón, this nomeclature is quite wide since all nougats to a greater or lesser extent contain almonds.

The oil that comes out of the almond, unlike what many people think, is an indicator that it is a good turrón. The soft turron is also made in granulated form (original formula) where you can see the pieces of roasted or refined almonds where they go unnoticed.

Soft turrón Formats

The soft turron is usually consumed in bars, the traditional weight is 300 grams although in the north of the country are usually served in formats larger than 500 or even 600 grams. Every year supermarkets make them smaller, 200 or even less, keeping the same packaging making you think you are doing a good deal with them, and that without taking into account the quality, but the traditional is 300 grams.

Then it is also very typical, especially in the province of Alicante, to serve it in the form of coca or soft turron cake. Both 200, 400 and 500 grams are made. The texture is softer because of the way it is kneaded and in this soft nougat format a little bit of cinnamon is usually added and sprinkled on top too.

Ingredients of soft turron

There are 4 main ingredients.

• The almond, preferably Marcona, is the turron that contains the most almonds, with a minimum of 64% in order to carry the Supreme Quality seal. We sometimes produce it with even 74% in our most select category.
• The honey 100% of bee, which is around 17% and 20%.  The most used are orange blossom honey, rosemary honey or thousand flowers honey. The eucalyptus is usually discarded for its intense flavor. The minimum percentage for the highest quality is 10%.
• Sugar, should not exceed 15% and a good indicator of soft nougat craftsman is that it has less measure of sugar than honey.

• Egg albumin.

As we mentioned earlier, the toasted almonds used can be more or less crushed, making these pieces noticeable in every bite or go unnoticed is what is known as soft turrón granules or soft turrón refined. The main ingredients do not change, so it's just a matter of taste.

Why is it called Turrón de Jijona?

The original name to refer to it is Turrón de Jijona, although we are aware that it is better known as soft turrón, which is also quite ambiguous as most turrones are. The title of Turrón de Jijona has been protected by a seal of Denominación de origen for more than five centuries. This means that for a Turrón de Jijona to be protected by the Protected Geographical Indication it must follow rigorous and ancient production processes just like its brother, the turrón de Alicante (known as hard turrón):

• Quality of the ingredients and minimum percentages
• Machinery and capacity used in the process
• Steps to follow during the elaboration process
• Time of rest
• And finally and most importantly, the turrón must be made in Jijona in order to obtain the seal.

The latter means that any turrón produced in a different location cannot be considered Turrón de Jijona and will be commonly called soft Turrón. We have to be extremely careful with this matter as it can normally reflect that the other conditions we have mentioned have not been respected either and therefore we are faced with a product of lesser quality.

In Jijona they say that there is a microclimate, unique in all of Spain and the most knowledgeable (and perhaps nostalgic) people say that this is the secret of the turrón made in Jijona. There are nougat companies that have opened factories in other areas of Spain and the world, such as Argentina and Cuba, and they claim that turrón has a special flavour if it is only made in Jijona. There is no need to look for more mystery.

How soft nougat is made

Next we are going to define how to make soft turrón, in our case turrón de Jijona, since we make it in Jijona and our production is under the protection of the turrón regulatory council.

1. The peeled almond is roasted in rotating cylinders heated over an intense fire, called "toasters". 
2. Then, the almonds are roasted in "mechanical" machines, with a capacity of 50 to 60 kg, where the honey, previously heated, and the sugar are cooked over a high heat together with the egg white.

3. The almond is added to the mixture obtained and it is passed through mills that give it the degree of refinement.
4. The mixture is then passed on to the "boixets", which are hot metal tanks or containers in the shape of a mortar. Here the "Mestre Torroner" and the "Arremataor" play a fundamental role, mixing the product with some shovels in a harmonic and compensated movement. They are the ones who determine the optimum point of the turrón de Jijona. Each master has his own point and that's why it's very difficult to make the same turrón every time. The same turrón never comes out.
5. As you can see, the process is not industrialized, and it requires the supervision of an expert who intervenes in the elaboration of each batch of turrón. Finally it is moulded in different formats, normally in 6kg blocks which are then cut into 300 or 500 gram tablets although it is also moulded to make round Jijona turrón cakes.

Below is a video of how soft turrón is made in our factory.

The art is not only in the production, but also in the packaging, which is part of the traditional way of making turrón. Here we have also prepared a few videos of how we package the turrón, how we introduce the seals of the regulatory council of Jijona and Alicante, etc:

Soft turron recipe

At this point you're probably wondering how to make homemade soft nougat, well, it's impossible to replicate a 100% handmade turron because of the lack of specialized machinery used, but that doesn't mean you can't make a nice soft turrón to make at home. First I leave you with a video summary on how to make soft turron of less than 1 minute so you can see the steps above and also I leave you a link to the complete recipe so you can see in detail all the steps to make soft turron.

Complete recipe for Soft Turron: How to make turrón at home