HOMEMADE ALMOND PASTE – Making almond paste at home is easy, economical and especially useful when you need it in a pinch.
Being I’m a spur-of-the-moment, somewhat impulsive baker the ability to crank out my own batch of almond paste really comes in handy. It’s not one of those things I routinely stock my pantry with unless it’s holiday time when I use it for my favorite Christmas treat, stollen.
If you have a food processor, whole almonds, sugar, honey and water then you are well on your way to making your very own almond paste. It won’t be quite as smooth as the type you buy nor as sweet. I found that letting it sit a few days in the refrigerator helped soften it and allowed the flavors to develop but you can use it right away too with perfectly good results. I do. You can also freeze the leftovers.
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The recipe is from Jacques Torres who also recommends kneading in some butter to make it less sticky and smoother, a step I routinely skip – I guess it all depends on what you’re using the almond paste for. If you’re just baking it into cookies or filling a stollen I don’t think you need the extra butter.
You do need to use blanched almonds – I included a link below showing how to blanch them if you find yourself with the skin-on type. It’s an easy process but does add an extra step.
HOMEMADE ALMOND PASTE
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons 250 grams sugar
- 1/4 cup 75 grams honey
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons 100 grams water
- 3 cups plus 3 tablespoons 500 grams blanched, whole, almonds
- Up to 1/3 cup about 50 grams Kirsch or simple syrup, optional
- Scant 1/4 cup 50 grams butter, optional
Instructions
- Add the sugar, honey and water to a medium saucepan set over medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring often.
- Grind the almonds in a large food processor until coarsely chopped. Pour the boiling water over the almonds and continue blending until smooth up to 10 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. It will be hard to get the same consistency as store bought almond paste and that's ok.
- If the mixture is so thick that the food processor is straining, you can add a little more hot water, kirsch or simple syrup.
- Wrap the almond paste in plastic wrap and allow it to cool or store in refrigerator 2 - 3 weeks or freeze up to 3 months.
*Optional:
- When you are ready to use the almond paste knead in the butter - it will make it smooth and not so sticky. (I skipped this step with good results.)