Almond Butter

ALMOND BUTTER : Every once and a while I get a hankering for peanut butter. But I normally put it aside when faced with the astronomical price of Sfr 5 (~$5) for a small 250g jar. In Switzerland peanut butter does not rank amongst the basic, inexpensive food staples  -  it is an imported oddity, that many Swiss people, like my husband, have never tried. The whole idea of peanut butter & jam sandwiches, not to mention banana left him cold. That was of course until he tried it and like the rest of us, fell hopelessly in love with this sticky nutty spread. It makes me think of the film Meet Jo Black when the butler asks him what he would like, ‘just the butter & a spoon?’.

There is another perversity in this whole peanut butter loving situation and that is that it normally gives me a stomach ache. I think it has something to do with the oils they use to make it. Which got me to thinking about making nut butters in general and people with peanut allergies. It must be especially hard on children not being able to eat certain foods and helpful for mothers to have tasty alternatives. Coincidence would have it that I had two packages of whole almonds and a little free time, so I set about making my own almond butter.

Rave reviews is all I have to say. Absolutely delicious! The only issue I ran into was the desire to further reduce the amount of oil used, however the choice was between that and ruining my new blender, so I decided not to risk it. However if you do try this recipe with less oil please let me know how it turns out. I also recommend substituting a little almond oil instead of sunflower, it adds to the almond butter taste, which has a slight sweetness with a hint of sea salt to compliment.

RECIPE : SWEET PEA Blog

• 250gr whole almonds
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil (you can substitute a few tablespoons of almond oil)
• 1 tablespoon fine white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1. First put the oil into the blender.
2. Add half the almonds & blend
3. Gradually add the rest of the almonds
4. Finally add the sugar & salt

Almond Cake

ALMOND CAKE {GATEAU AUX AMANDES}: I think my pantry has been learning old tricks from the washing machine – you put two socks in and only one comes out…. you place a packet of almonds in the pantry and they vanish – coincidence I THINK NOT!

To avoid ’the hunt of humiliation’ the only logical solution was to get their 1st – buy the almonds and use them right away. Which in my case in not difficult as I am a big fan of this nut.

The original recipe for this cake comes from Thomas Keller’s cookbook ’Bouchon’, and uses almond paste and amaretto. I first tried this recipe using 2 substitutions : almond essence & ’masse d’amande’ – a very thick French almond butter made with ground almonds, soya beans and sugar.

My cake turned out wonderfully moist & flavourful – which got me to thinking. If others wanted the same results & didn’t have access to this almond paste, it would be useful to know how to make it from scratch. Thus I have created a homemade recipe, which makes a little extra almond paste that you can keep in the fridge and use as a spread on toast – delicious dear diary!

See link ‘Almond cake‘ below for the recipe:

ALMOND CAKE RECIPE – ERIKA ALLISTON Sweet Pea Blog

• 200g (7oz) almond paste*** (see my recipe below) or use ‘masse d’amande’
• 55g (1/4 cup) white sugar
• 110g (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon almond essence
• 45g (1/3 cup) white flour
• pinch of salt
• 40g sliced sweet almonds for decoration
• icing sugar for dusting the cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F
2. Grease & flour an 24 cm (11 inch) round baking pan.
3. Cut butter  into small pieces and let come to room temperature.
4. Combine the almond paste and sugar - beat for 2 minutes.
5. Now add the softened butter and mix for an additional good 5 minutes.
6. Next add the honey, then the eggs ONE BY ONE, and finally the almond essence, mix well.
7. In a separate bowl combine the flour &  salt. Gradually add to the almond mixture. DO NOT OVER MIX at this point.
8. Bake in the oven for approx. 25 minutes or until the top is a nice golden brown and a tooth pick come out clean when you poke the cake.

TOASTED ALMOND DECORATION : while the cake is in the oven, using a large non-stick frying pan, gently toast / brown the sliced almonds. Be CAREFUL not to BURN them!  Set aside to cool.

Remove the cake from the oven, let sit to cool for at least 5 minutes. Remove from the cake pan and set on a cooling rack. When the cake is cool place on a serving plate, sprinkle the top with the toasted almonds, and using a small sieve, dust the top with a thin layer of icing sugar.

*** Homemade ALMOND PASTE Recipe***

• 175g (1 generous cup) whole almonds
• 12 tablespoons slightly warm water
• 6 tablespoons oil (almond oil or vegetable oil)
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Put the water into the blender 1st, then the whole almonds and mix. Next gradually add the oil and finally the sugar. You will need a powerful blenderf to make this very thick smooth butter. My recipe makes approx. 330g of almond butter in total, of which you will need 200g for this recipe.

NOTES:

Do not store this cake in an air tight container! If air cannot circulate around the cake the almonds will go soft -  and we don’t want that!!! It is a fine line between not letting your cake dry out and letting it become too moist.

AMARETTI These well known Italian almond cookies, get their name from the Italian word ‘amaro’ meaning ‘bitter’ as they are made with bitter almonds & ‘etti’ indicating that they are small. Don’t be scared off, as most of you know, these cookies are anything but bitter, and the ones I make are not small!

Though I have to say that the Nona’s out there must have a hidden family secret or simply a magic fairy in the pantry, that allows them to make this recipe perfectly every time. Let’s just say that I was a ‘virgin amaretti maker’ a ‘babe in the kitchen’ and was in serious need of 1. a pair of training wheels 2. a Nona with a black belt in Italian patisserie and 3. to “borrow” that little magic fairy….

As my 1st attempt produced a very sad, poor excuse for amaretti …. they were lifeless and flat, and while the exterior was shiny & crispy, the biggest disappointment was yet to come – as biting into the cookie you were to discover – NOTHING, AIR, VOID, HOLLOW SPACE…. oooh that cannot be good I though.

So I went back to the drawing board. After much reading & baking, I came accross Yvonne’s recipe for amaretti’s. For this I have to say ‘chapeau’, my hat goes off to her – so impressed was I with these cookies, that I was inspired to create my own version based on her recipe - omitting the cocoa powder & almond decoration,  and using pure almond essence. These amaretti cookies are easy to make, have a lovely almond taste and a wonderfully soft centre!

RECIPE - SWEET PEA BLOG

• 680g (1 1/2 pounds) ground almonds (almond meal)
• 440g (2 cups) white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond essence (see NOTES below)
• 30g of icing sugar for dusting the tops of the amaretti
• 2 pinches of salt

1. Position the oven rack so that it is at the bottom of the oven.
2. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F)
3. Check that your ground almonds are as fine as possible. You can always pass them through a blender to make sure.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground almonds, salt and sugar, mixing well with a fork.
5. Next mix in the eggs (all at once – no need to beat in advance), and almond essence.
6. Line two cookie sheet with baking paper, and using a tablespoon, make round balls of cookie dough and place them on the baking sheet (leaving 2cm of space between each).
7. Cook for 10 minutes on the lowest rack in the oven, then move the rack to the middle of the oven and bake of an additional 5 minutes.Leave to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack.
8. Using a small sieve, sprinkle each cookie with a light dust of powder (icing) sugar.

NOTES: if you take 100g of whole almonds and grind them = 100g ground almonds. Yvonne’s recipe calls for 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa which is a nice alternative and should be combined with the almonds/sugar/salt. She also rolls her amaretti cookies in white sugar before baking them which you may prefer – instead of dusting them with icing sugar. If you do not have pure almond essence and are using almond extract (which is not as strong), you will need to using about 3 tablespoons in total – taste as you go!!