This Turrón de chocolate recipe will be a great way to transport yourself to Spain during Christmas, since actual travel is still off the cards for us all. 2020, hey? A year we’d like to forget but one that will definitely go down in the history books!
I adore travelling and have missed it so. Completely engrossing myself in the food and culture of wherever I land is a must for me. I’m an Italofile from way back, but it took precisely one day for me to fall completely in love with Spain on my first trip there. I mean, you can see why… it’s gorgeous.
We’ve now done quite a bit of travel throughout Spain and have loved it all. The cities, the countryside and most of all, the incredibly delicious regional food.
For the past couple of years one of the recipes I make for my Christmas gift bags is this Turrón de chocolate. It was the most divine little treat we had the pleasure of trying on one of our trips. I remember being told it is available year ’round but is especially popular at Christmas time. And so, my own little Christmas tradition began when we got home.
As I’ve found, it’s not something you can find readily in Australia. So, you’ll definitely want to make your own too.
Turrón de chocolate – a bit of history
Turrón dates back to the 15th century when the Moors occupied Spain. It was first created in the Southern town of Jijona as a nougat with four basic ingredients. Honey, egg whites, sugar and roasted almonds. Its creation was the likely result of an abundance of deliciously sweet local honey. Local bees collecting pollen from wildflowers on the mountains surrounding the town being responsible for this.
Today there are many different types of turrón. However, there remains two classic styles that have been made the same way, using the same recipes for centuries. There is a soft nougat variety, which is the version Jijona is famous for, and a hard, crunchy variety from Alicante.
Delicious as they both are, they were very heavy on the sugar. I felt the chocolate had enough so have skipped it in this recipe in favour of just a little sweet local honey.
Remember – not all chocolate is created equal and many contain less than favourable ingredients. Be sure to read your ingredients when choosing those you will use for this recipe. After all, great chocolate makes a great turrón.
If you’re in need of a few other luscious little treats for your gift bags, try these raw doughnuts. You could also make little jars of my vegan chocolate mousse, which is utterly divine.
I hope you love this as much as we do. And I do hope that even in the crazy that is 2020, you have a wonderful Christmas however it might be spent ❤️
Turrón de chocolate
Ingredients
- 250 g milk chocolate
- 250 g dark chocolate
- 60 g honey or rice malt syrup
- 80 g cocoa butter, chopped into chunks
- 100 g roasted almonds
Instructions
- Line a 20cm x 20cm (8" x 8") dish with baking paper
- Slowly melt all the chocolate and cacao butter in a saucepan over a very low heat and stir frequently so it doesn’t stick or clump. Don’t rush this or you’ll burn the chocolate
- Once it's all melted and silky smooth, remove mixture from the heat and stir in the honey or rice malt syrup, followed by the nuts and stir well to combine
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared dish, then place in the freezer for one hour or until set
- Remove from the freezer and let it sit on the bench for 5 minutes before slicing into small squares
- Store in the fridge and enjoy!
Notes
- For a dairy free version just use 500g of dark chocolate (at least 70%) but increase the sweetener to 100g or to your taste, as it will be slightly more bitter without the milk chocolate
- For the nut intolerant, you will need to make a very modern version of Turrón by swapping out the nuts for a mix of seeds, goji berries, or anything at all you’d like mixed into your chocolate 🙂
Anjali
This recipe was so easy to make but felt so fancy when we were enjoying it as dessert! Yum!
Gabby
I’m glad you enjoyed it Anjali!
Sarah
Spain is beautiful, one of my best friends taught English in Madrid and I spent a bit of time visiting her 🙂 and we ate lots of Turron, I had no idea it was so easy to make, yum!
Gabby
It really is! We’ve enjoyed every trip we’ve ever taken there.
Jeannette
I can’t believe how easy this is! Definitely go slow with the chocolate because that’s a mistake I don’t want to make again!
Gabby
Yes, me too Jeannette…. I’ve had to throw away more than one batch in my time so I’ve definitely learnt my lesson!
Danielle Wolter
Oh my gosh this was so delicious! I will be making this over and over again!
Gabby
So glad you enjoyed it Danielle!
Neli Howard
Love love love this chocolate! I wasn’t planning on making any more chocolate treats for Christmas this year, but I might have to change my mind….
Gabby
I think that every year Neli, then I make another two batches of this!
Katherine
Oh wow, these look incredible. I love learning about new foods from around the world.
Gabby
Thanks, Katherine, it’s something I love too.
veenaazmanov
Perfect solution to my sweet tooth cravings. So easy to make and best gifting option too.
Gabby
Yes! The best gifts Veena…. everyone loves a chocolate gift bag!
Sylvie
These look absolutely delicious and so easy to make too, I probably would struggle not to eat the whole batch at once!
Gabby
That’s been an issue here before Sylvie! Every batch disappears quite quickly…