Nutrition: per piece (when cut into 26)
Prepare a 22cm square baking tin by brushing the sides with oil and dusting the bottom with a generous layer of icing sugar. Put one of the wafer papers on top.
Tip the nuts, rose petal powder and lemon zest into a bowl, and mix well.
Put the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk for 3 mins to medium peaks. Leave in the mixer.
Gently heat the sugar and honey together in a large pan, stirring continuously for 10 mins until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat, stirring to stop it catching, until it reaches 125C. Stop stirring, but keep cooking for another 4-5 mins until it reaches 155C – the ‘hard crack’ point. Take off the heat, let the bubbles go down a little, then carefully pour into a heatproof jug.
Turn the stand mixer up to high speed and slowly drizzle the hot sugar mixture into the whisked egg whites. Once it’s all been added, keep the mixer running on high for 3-4 mins – the mixture will increase in volume, then start to decrease again as it cools.
Working quickly, take the bowl off the stand and tip in the nuts, rose petals and zest. Stir very quickly using a silicone spoon or spatula – it will immediately start to get sticky, but soon become cool enough to touch.
Spoon a third of the nougat into the bottom of the prepared tin, using your hands to press it in (dip your hands in some icing sugar if it’s very sticky). Ripple 3 tbsp of rose syrup into the nougat, then repeat with another layer of nougat, a ripple of rose syrup and the last of the nougat. Press into an even layer, top with the wafer paper and dust with icing sugar.
Leave to set in the fridge for at least 3-4 hrs, then slice into bite-sized pieces. Drizzle over more rose syrup to serve, if you like.
