Almendrados Conventuales Poblanos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy saucepan
• •Wooden spoon
• •Food processor or hand-cranked nut grinder
• •Candy thermometer
• •Parchment-lined baking sheet

Instructions

1. 1

   Grind the almonds

   Pulse the blanched almonds in a food processor until they look like fine meal. Stop before they turn oily. Almond paste begins with texture, not speed. If you grind until the almonds release their fat, the cookies bake heavy and greasy.

2. 2

   Cook the syrup

   Combine the granulated sugar and water in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, swirling the pan only if needed, until the syrup reaches 235F to 238F, the soft-ball stage. It should look clear and thick, not caramel-colored. These are pale convent sweets, not burnt sugar candy.

3. 3

   Build the paste

   Lower the heat. Stir the almond meal into the hot syrup with a wooden spoon. Add the canela, salt, lime zest, and orange blossom water if using. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture gathers into a thick paste and pulls away from the sides of the pan. This is the Spanish mazapan grammar made Mexican by the convent kitchens of Puebla.

4. 4

   Temper the yolks

   Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl. Spoon a little hot almond paste into the yolks and whisk hard, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the pan. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring without stopping. Do not scramble them. The yolks give body and a tender bite. Rush this and you get sweet almond eggs. Nobody asked for that.

5. 5

   Cool the dough

   Scrape the paste onto a plate dusted with powdered sugar. Let it cool until you can handle it, about 20 minutes. It should be firm, smooth, and slightly tacky. If it sticks badly to your fingers, dust your hands lightly with powdered sugar. Lightly. No me vengas con atajos.

6. 6

   Shape the almendrados

   Heat the oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of paste and roll them into small ovals or rounds. Press one whole blanched almond into the top of each cookie. Set them one inch apart. They do not spread much when the paste is cooked properly.

7. 7

   Bake pale gold

   Bake for 14 to 18 minutes, rotating the pan once, until the bottoms are light gold and the tops look dry but not brown. The center should stay tender. If they darken hard around the edges, the oven is too hot. Convent sweets require discipline, not drama.

8. 8

   Finish and rest

   Let the cookies cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then move them to a rack. Dust lightly with powdered sugar once cool. They taste better after several hours, when the almond, yolk, and canela settle into one flavor. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy fresh blanched almonds from a serious nut vendor, not a dusty supermarket bag that has been sitting under fluorescent lights for a year. Rancid almonds ruin the whole batch. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •Use Mexican canela if you can find it. Cassia cinnamon is sharper and heavier. It will work, but the perfume is different. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Orange blossom water belongs in some convent sweet kitchens and not in others. Use a restrained teaspoon if you like that old perfume. If your bottle smells like soap, leave it out.
• •Do not brown these like American cookies. Almendrados should be pale, tender inside, and lightly gold underneath. The color tells you the heat was controlled.

Advance Preparation

• •The almond paste can be cooked, cooled, wrapped tightly, and refrigerated for up to 2 days before shaping. Let it soften at room temperature before molding.
• •The baked almendrados keep for 5 days in a covered tin. They are best after the first day, when the almond and yolk flavor settles.
• •Do not freeze them. The sugar sweats when thawed and the surface turns sticky.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 19g)