Almond Nougatine Spoons filled with Chocolate Ganache

Looking for an elegant dessert to make for a special occasion? These Almond Nougatine Spoons filled with Chocolate Ganache are the way to go! With the perfect ratio of crunchy to creamy ganache these treats are to die for.

When I host parties I oftentimes can’t decide on just one dessert recipe, so I end up making several things which I like to serve as small bites. I have an entire cupboard shelf full of mini bowls and cups along with tiny spoons and forks. On many occasions, I even create my own little serving vessels out of chocolate or cookies.

Up until this week, though, I had not ever attempted to make edible spoons on which to serve my sweet treats. A while back I saw a tutorial from Kimanh from Scissors, Paper, Wok where she used a kit to make edible spoons. As is suggested with the kit, she flattened store bought bread, cut it out using the kit’s spoon shaped cutter then set her bread over the kit’s metal soup spoons, baked them in the oven, and filled them with savory topping. I was so intrigued by this edible spoon making kit that I entered the giveaway she was hosting in hopes of winning one of the kits for myself.

Luck was on my side, although I didn’t win, the maker of these kits contacted me and asked if I’d like to give an Edible Spoon Making Kit a try. Of course, I jumped at the chance. The day I took to the kitchen to create this recipe, I was like a mad scientist trying out everything I could think of to make edible spoons using these kits. After an afternoon of cooking and eating (way too much) I settled on my favorite edible spoons – Almond Nougatine Spoons topped with Chocolate Ganache.

Today’s recipe utilizes an edible spoon making kit, and all, yes I mean all, of my readers will have the opportunity to enter to win one of these kits. I’m giving three away! See the giveaway details after the recipe.

Almond Nougatine Spoons (Makes 15-20 spoons)
almond nougatine recipe adapted from Cookstr

Ingredients:

4 ounces raw blanched almonds
1/4 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Supplies:

small heavy bottom saucepan
silicone spatula or wooden spoon
baking sheet
a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat
rolling pin
Edible Spoon Making kit or cookie cutters and mini muffin tins

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spread almonds on a baking sheet. Roast in oven until golden brown about 8 minutes. Allow to cool then chop into small pieces. Once cooled, toss with flour and salt.

Put butter in a small saucepan. Pour corn syrup on top then sprinkle sugar over that. Heat over medium high heat until butter melts. Stir gently. Then allow it to come to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in floured almonds.

Pour onto a lined baking sheet. Spread out as thin as possible. Set another piece of parchment paper on top and use a rolling pin to roll it out as thin as possible. Remove top sheet of parchment paper and scrape off any stuck nougatine and spread it on the pan.

Place in a preheated oven. Almost immediately, bubbles will begin to form and pop all over the surface of the nougatine. The original recipe said it would take 6 minutes for the bubbles to subside and the nougatine to become brown. Well, it took mine about 15 minutes. So, just keep a very close eye on it. If your oven doesn’t have a window, set your timer for about 10 minutes, then check on it. Once the bubbling does subside and your nougatine is golden brown, remove it from the oven.

Use a knife or cookie cutter, in this case, I used the spoon cutter that came in the Edible Spoon Making Kit, to cut through your nougatine. Press the cutter down into the nougatine then giggle it side to side in order to make a nice clean cut. I suggest you cut around the edge of the nougatine then cut the center as the edges will be a bit more browned and will harden more quickly. If, however it gets too hard to cut, put the baking sheet back in the oven just long enough to soften it. I was able to cut all of my spoons without having to do this.

Use a metal spatula or knife to pick up a cut piece of nougatine and place it over the spoon mold.  Carefully press it into the mold so it forms a nice spoon shape. Allow to cool for a few minutes then just lift it off the mold. If using the spoon making kit, you’ll have fewer molds than spoon shape nougatine pieces. By the time you have set the nougatine spoons on all of the molds, the first ones should be set enough that you can easily remove them, so you can use the molds again. Once again if the spoons get too hard, return to oven just long enough to soften the nougatine.

Options, if you don’t have a spoon making kit: You can use round, square, or even flower shaped cutters to cut your nougatine. Then just drape them over an inverted bowl or muffin tin to shape into small bowls. You can also just cut pieces using cookie cutter, a pizza wheel or knife and use them to decorate desserts, or crush the nougatine into small pieces and sprinkle over ice cream. Or, just eat it; it is great all on it’s own.

You will have scraps after you cut out your shapes and you can make more spoons if you’d like. Just grind or smash the scraps into very small crumbs. Spread the crumbs on a lined baking sheet in a thin layer, making sure there aren’t any big gaps between the crumbs. Heat in a 350 degree oven for 5-8 minutes. Then repeat the process above. You should be able to get at least 5 more spoons doing this.

Once your spoons are cooled you can top them with chocolate ganache (recipe here,) as I did, chocolate mousse, cheese cake filling, whipped cream, etc. Be creative and have fun. Just be sure to wait to top them so they stay crunchy. You can safely fill them an hour before you want to serve them. Store the spoons in an airtight container in a cool dry place for several days. If you store them in a metal tin, you can probably keep your nougatine spoons for several weeks. Don’t refrigerate.