Category Archives: Almond

Rudolph Linzer Cookies

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Makes 24

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ medium tonka bean, finely grated
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 1/3 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 3/4 cup Almond Flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Filling

  • Raspberry, or strawberry, jam

To Finish

  • Candy eyes
  • Melted chocolate
  • Powdered sugar, for dusting

Method

  1. Line two large cookie trays with baking parchment and set aside until needed
  2. Beat the butter, sugar, cinnamon and tonka bean until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk, vanilla and beat until combined
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until just combined, taking care not to overmix
  4. Divide the dough in half, and pat each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour
  5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and let it soften for 5 to 10 minutes, until it feels soft enough to roll.
  6. On a floured surface, roll one disc of dough out about 1/8″-thick. Using a 2 1/2″ round cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Transfer rounds to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather the scrap dough, roll, and repeat. If at any time during this process the dough becomes sticky and hard to work with, simply refrigerate it for about 20 minutes, until firm
  7. Place the cut cookies (you should have 24 cookies) in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and preheat your oven to 350°F
  8. While the first half of cookies is chilling, cut 24 rounds from the second dough circle. Once you’ve transferred these cookies to a baking sheet, use your smallest cookie cutter, or the end of a round piping tip, to make a cutout hole off-center of each and remove it. Place cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill
  9. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn brown. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely
  10. Turn the whole cookies flat side up and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the center, spreading it slightly. Top with the sugar-dusted cookies. With your melted chocolate in a small piping bag, with the end slightly snipped off, pipe on “antlers” and fix candy eyes at the ends, above the hole
  11. Though you can eat these cookies straight away, they taste better after letting them sit for a day or two so the jam can soak into the cookie making it deliciously soft

Amaretti Morbidi

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Makes 15

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups finely ground almonds
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 2 large egg whites
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • Powdered sugar

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a large baking sheet or cookie tray with baking paper
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together ground almond, sugar and salt until well combined
  3. In a mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until they hold soft peaks
  4. Add the beaten egg whites and almond extract to dry ingredients and stir until mixture forms a soft, sticky dough, kneading with your hands if necessary
  5. Lightly dust your hands with powdered sugar. Use a small cookie scoop to portion dough into 1-inch balls. Roll into a smooth ball, then roll in powdered sugar. Arrange on your prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch of space between cookies
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops are cracked and bottoms are just barely golden. Remove from oven; let cool a few minutes on the baking trays, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely
  7. Cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight bag or container, for up to 5 days

Spiced Plum & Almond Cake

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Serves 10-12

Ingredients

Spiced Plums

  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 1 piece star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick, broke in half
  • 2-3 pieces of unwaxed lemon peel
  • ¾ cup water
  • 6 small red plums, halved and pitted

Cake

  • 1 and ½ cups ground almonds, divided
  • 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons sliced almonds

Method

Spiced Plums

  1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, star anise, cinnamon stick, lemon peel, water and bring  to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add the plums, ensuring they are submerged in the hot liquer. Let rest for 20 minutes. After this time drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooled syrup

Cake

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare with butter or baking spray the sides of an 8-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper
  2. In a bowl, combine 1 cup of the ground almonds, all the all-purpose flour and baking powder. Whisk to combine and set aside until needed
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. At low speed or with a wooden spoon, stir in the dry ingredients. Set aside ½ cup of the batter. Transfer the remaining batter into the prepared pan and arrange the infused plums, cut side down, on the surface
  4. Stir the remaining ½ cup of ground almonds into the reserved batter. Spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a pastry tip. Pipe the mixture in the spaces between the plums and sprinkle with the almond slices. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove. Lightly brush the top of the cake with the plum infusing syrup from earlier (gently reheated for ease of brushing)
  6. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Amarena Cherry Almond Loaf

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Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

Loaf

  • 1 cup ground almonds, or almond meal
  • 1 ¼ cups, and 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ½ Teaspoon Salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons Amaretto almond liqueur
  • 1 cup Amarena cherries, drained and cut into halves

Glaze

  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Amarena cherry syrup
  • 1 teaspoon melted salted butter
  • 2 teaspoons whipping, or heavy, cream

To decorate

  • Toasted flaked almonds
  • Additional Amarena cherries, drained

Method

Loaf

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Prepare 9” x 5” inch loaf pan with baking spray, or grease with butter, and set aside until needed
  3. In a bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, salt and baking powder. Whisk together well
  4. Beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition
  6. Add the almond liqueur and mix to combine
  7. Add ½ the flour mixture and mix briefly
  8. Add the remaining of the flour mixture and fold just until no flour spots remain
  9. Toss the cherries in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and fold in the batter
  10. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for about 55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center. *If the loaf begins to brown too much before it has completed baking, cover it loosely with aluminium foil
  11. Cool 15 minutes before removing the loaf from the pan. Allow to cool completely before glazing

Glaze

  1. Whisk together the powdered sugar, cherry syrup, and melted butter until just smooth
  2. Add in the cream one teaspoon at a time until you can pour the glaze

To finish

  1. Drizzle the glaze over your cooled loaf
  2. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds and dot surplus Amarena cherries to your liking
  3. Slice and serve

Loaf will keep best for up to three days at room temperature in an air-tight container

Galette Des Rois

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Makes 1 x 9″ galette

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 1 portion rough puff pastry as per my Saskatoon Berry Pie recipe

Filling

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons cherry brandy liqueur
  • 1 Tablespoon amaretto liqueur
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 cup ground almonds (almond meal)
  • 3 Tablespoons warmed orange marmalade, sieved to remove the peel

To Finish

  • 1 egg beaten with
  • 1 teaspoon milk

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 400F
  2. With the pastry divided into 2 as per original Saskatoon Berry Pie, roll to thickness 4mm thick. Using a 9″ plate or cake pan bottom, cut a disc shape from the pastry and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill, and repeat with the second portion of pastry on a separate lined baking sheet. You should now have 2 discs of pasty chilling in the refrigerator while you move on to making the filling
  3. In a medium bowl combine the sugar and softened butter. Beat with an electric whisk until pale and well combined
  4. Add the eggs, cherry brandy, amaretto, almond extract, cornstarch and whisk until well combined
  5. Add in the ground almonds and fold to combine well
  6. Once combined, cover and chill in the refrigerator
  7. Remove one disc of chilled pastry (still on lined baking tray) from the refrigerator and brush on the warmed marmalade, leaving a 1″ border to the pastry disc
  8. Transfer your almond mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and pipe the filling mixture on top of the marmalade, keeping the 1″ border. Using a palette knife or spatula smooth the top of the filling for any major dips or bumps
  9. Liberally wet the border area with water
  10. Remove second disc of chilled pastry from your refrigerator and careful place on top of the first filled disc (I invert the second disc whilst on it’s baking parchment baking and then peel to remove the parchment). Press the edges over the wet area to seal the edge of the pastries
  11. Using a knife (or a chopstick) push into the galette edge to crimp/ scallop it
  12. Brush the top of the galette with the finishing egg mixture until fully covered and golden. Avoid brushing the side of the galette
  13. Using a sharp knife or bakers lame, cut a decorative pattern into the top of the pasty, careful not to go the full way through
  14. Transfer to your preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is a golden brown (There may be some leakage of butter form the filling)
  15. Once baked remove from the oven and transfer to cooling rack to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing