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1
Toast the blanched almonds on a baking tray at 160 °C for 8 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Lay two sheets of wafer paper on a marble slab or line the mould with wafer paper. Have all equipment — pan, spatula, mould — in position before touching the honey.
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2
Pour the honey into a heavy copper pan over a medium flame. Stir constantly with a wooden spatula, keeping the spatula moving across the base. As the honey heats past 140 °C it will darken and the risk of scorching rises sharply. This is where the dish lives or dies: continue stirring without pause until the thermometer reads exactly 155 °C — the hard-crack stage — and the honey has turned a deep amber with a bitter-sweet, caramelised fragrance. Any degree beyond 160 °C renders the honey acrid and unrecoverable.
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3
Remove the pan from the heat immediately. Pour in the warm toasted almonds all at once and stir with rapid, decisive strokes until every almond is coated. The window for even distribution is under 60 seconds from this moment; the mixture will stiffen visibly as it is stirred.
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4
Pour the molten mixture at once onto the prepared wafer-paper-lined surface. Using an oiled palette knife or the back of an oiled spoon, spread to approximately 5 mm thickness before the mass sets. The surface will lose its liquid sheen and become matt as it firms — this occurs within 60 seconds of leaving the heat.
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5
Leave undisturbed at room temperature until completely cold and rock-hard to the touch — at least 20 minutes. Crack into irregular shards using the back of a heavy knife or a small hammer. The nougat should fracture cleanly with a sharp report; a dull, sticky break indicates insufficient caramelisation.