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PROBLEM SOLVED! P235 of the book (Greweling) says to combine the sugar, glucose syrup, and water in the saucepan at the start. This is what I had been doing. However, on p221, it says to add the glucose syrup only once the sugar and water reach a boil. I tried doing this instead, and the syrup was much, much thinner and easier to work with. Before, it was impossible to agitate - almost the consistency of hard candy during pulling, yet even stickier. In short, don't add the glucose syrup until the sugar/water mixture reaches a boil!

I use the thermometer all the time for tempering chocolate, so I'm sure it's still accurate. The smaller batch size may be the issue. I am making about 1/3 the recipe in the book - I'm using 300g sugar, 60g water/glucose. The recipe in the book is for a batch using 1kg sugar. I have not made fondant before, but I am comparing mine to photos in Greweling's book and on websites (http://sum.ptuo.us/roller/ks/entry/how_to_make_fondant), and it's clear that mine is far too viscous. If I pulled the scraper back in the manner shown in those photos, it would barely scratch the surface of the fondant. Also, it would be impossible for me to use the scraper in those photos as I couldn't get enough leverage without a handle.

I can barely scrape the syrup from the marble slab. There is absolutely no way my food processor could handle it. I just can't figure out why mine seems to be so much thicker - I'm positive that I'm only cooking it to 240F and using the correct ratio of ingredients.

I've been having trouble getting my confectionery fondant to properly crystallize. I'm using the Greweling recipe (by weight: 1 part water, 1 part glucose syrup, 5 parts sugar; cook to ~240F, agitate when it cools to 120F). When I begin agitating it on my marble slab with my scraper, it quickly becomes very sticky and viscous - nearly impossible to work with. After about 15 minutes, it becomes opaque white, but it remains a sticky, very viscous mass, much like saltwater taffy but denser. Even when I continue to agitate it for an additional 20 minutes, it never seems to reach the short, crumbly texture that it's supposed to. Even leaving it to ripen overnight in an airtight container overnight makes no difference. I've tried 4 or 5 times now, and the same thing happens each time. As an experiment, I left some exposed overnight and, by the next morning, it was the proper texture: it would hold together, but it wasn't sticky at all, and it was slightly crumbly around the edges when molded. The pictures of the agitation process in Greweling's book seem to show a much thinner syrup that looks easier to work with. The last picture shows a short-textured white mass that looks like a white frosting. I've done some research online, but I haven't found any helpful information.

Lucy, that nougat looks great! I tried my hand at the soft chocolate nougat and threw in some pistachios and dried cherries; it was a big hit! It was a little intimidating, because I'm a newbie at this stuff (Greweling's book has been my Bible), and one of the more complicated recipes. Was your soft nougat a lot lighter in color than the pictures you posted? Mine was about the color and consistency of the nougat in Snickers bars. It was a little too soft and tacky to get sharp edges, and the pistachios made for some lumps when I cut into it, but they still looked halfway decent after I dipped them. Regarding chocolate liquor - my local Whole Foods occasionally carries unsweetened Callebaut, which has worked well for me. It's their usual $8 per lb.