Almond paste is a common ingredient in many Italian cakes and pastries, and is also shaped into delightful sculptures by pastry chefs, especially in Sicily. Pasta reale is difficult to make, and I therefore suggest you buy it if you can. If you cannot, here's how to make it. The recipe yields about 3 pounds, which will be quite enough for most recipes.
Prep Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
- 2/3 pound (300 g) peeled almonds
- 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) sugar
- 4 ounces (weight, 100 g) glucose -- get this from a pastry supply store
- A mortar and pestle
Preparation:
Put the almonds in a moderately warm oven and let them dry for a few minutes, watching them carefully lest they brown.
Grind the almonds, a few at a time, in a mortar with 1/2 cup of sugar so as to obtain a coarse flour (if you use a blender the almonds will give off oil, which you don't want). Strain the flour into a bowl and return the coarser bits to the mortar to regrind them. Continue until you have ground all the almonds with the sugar. Pour the almond flour into a large bowl and mix 3 ounces of the glucose into it.
Combine the remaining glucose and sugar in a pot and simmer the resulting mixture, stirring gently, until threads form when you pour a spoonful back into the pot. At this point thoroughly mix the syrup into the almonds. Pour the mixture out onto a marble work surface or a large platter and let it cool. The mixture will appear granular. If you have a hand-operated pasta machine moisten the rollers and crank the mixture through it several times to smooth it out. Otherwise, roll it out with a rolling pin so as to obtain as smooth a paste as possible.
Use the paste to make almond cookies, roll it out into sheets and wrap cakes -- especially cassata -- in it, shape it into sculptures, and so on. It also takes well to being painted with edible dies, and can be colored if you wish.
Grind the almonds, a few at a time, in a mortar with 1/2 cup of sugar so as to obtain a coarse flour (if you use a blender the almonds will give off oil, which you don't want). Strain the flour into a bowl and return the coarser bits to the mortar to regrind them. Continue until you have ground all the almonds with the sugar. Pour the almond flour into a large bowl and mix 3 ounces of the glucose into it.
Combine the remaining glucose and sugar in a pot and simmer the resulting mixture, stirring gently, until threads form when you pour a spoonful back into the pot. At this point thoroughly mix the syrup into the almonds. Pour the mixture out onto a marble work surface or a large platter and let it cool. The mixture will appear granular. If you have a hand-operated pasta machine moisten the rollers and crank the mixture through it several times to smooth it out. Otherwise, roll it out with a rolling pin so as to obtain as smooth a paste as possible.
Use the paste to make almond cookies, roll it out into sheets and wrap cakes -- especially cassata -- in it, shape it into sculptures, and so on. It also takes well to being painted with edible dies, and can be colored if you wish.
