Torrone with Tonda Gentile Hazelnuts

A delicious Piedmontese sweet to share: Crumbly Torrone with Tonda Gentile Hazelnuts.

Torrone is the Piedmontese dessert with the most ancient origin. There is a testimony of Pliny, Roman times, according to which a local population, the Taurini, produced a dessert made of honey and pine nuts: the ancestor of Torrone. It was also widespread in the Middle Age: it was served in the banquet of the wedding of Gian Galeazzo Visconti in 1395.
The Piedmontese torrone differs from the classic Cremonese one for the use of hazelnuts instead of almonds. The modification was made in 1885 in Gallo d'Alba, a hamlet of Grinzane Cavour (Cuneo), by the pastry chef Giuseppe Sebaste, who used hazelnuts, abundant and inexpensive in the Langhe. In the dessert honey, sugar and egg white are also used, and they are kneaded for about ten hours.

This Scalenghe nougat, made with Piedmontese Tonda Gentile hazelnuts from the Langhe, is the original and traditional Piedmontese torrone: sweet, crumbly, perfect to share with your loved ones!