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To Blanch Almonds

This recipe describes blanching almonds by boiling, removing skins, cooling, and drying.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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To Blanch Almonds

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Blanch and peel

  1. Place the almonds in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Alternatively, pour boiling water over the almonds in a bowl.

  2. Once boiled, squeeze the almonds between a coarse cloth to remove the skins.

  3. Drop the skinned almonds into ice water to prevent discoloration.

Dry

  1. After all almonds are blanched, dry them with a cloth and place them in a cool oven (300 °F / 150 °C) or over a register to dry.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Brief heat loosens the thin skins so they slip off, leaving pale nuts.

The step that matters

Drop the skinned almonds into ice water. Residual heat keeps cooking the nuts and can darken their color. An immediate cold-water bath stops the cooking and keeps them pale.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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