I wanted to make the Fig Coffee Cake and it called for almond paste.
I was hoping that I would be able to find the almond paste at the grocery. Thinking it was close the the holiday season this should have been no problem.
Unfortunately I went to several stores and none of them had almond paste. So I turned to my trusty Mid Century recipe box and behold - a recipe for almond paste.
The recipe itself isn’t that complicated.
I used my Cuisinart to chop the almonds. This worked very nicely and provided me with a very even chop.
To get the sugar and water to the soft ball stage you really need a quality pan and a quality candy thermometer.
For the pan I used my ceramic coated cast iron pan. I love these pans! They heat very evenly over the base and sides of the pan. This is ideal for candy making as you don’t have any hot spots in the pan. This ensures that everything cooks very evenly.
A regular thermometer will not show temperatures high enough for candy making. A candy thermometer is a must! You can get one on Amazon for around twenty dollars so it isn’t even that much of an investment. There are methods of testing the mixture without a proper thermometer, but it takes a lot of time and cooking experience to be able to do that correctly.
The paste mixed together very nicely. The more you stir as it is cooling, the creamier it gets.
I removed the portion needed for the coffee cake recipe and stored the remainder in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator. I am hoping to use the remainder for some holiday recipes in the coming weeks.
The recipe makes about four cups, so there is plenty for several different things!
ALMOND PASTE
1 Pound Almonds
2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Water
6 to 8 Tablespoons Orange Juice
2 to 3 Drops Rose Water
Blanche almonds and grind them four times. Combine water and sugar in a heavy saucepan and cook until the soft ball stage. Add the ground nuts and juice. Rose water can be omitted if needed. Stir until thoroughly blended and creamy. Let the paste cool until you can safely handle it. Knead with confectioners’ sugar coated hands and mold into the desired shape. Store in a closely covered har for 6 to 8 days to ripen.
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