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How to Blanch Almonds

A method for removing almond skins by briefly boiling and cooling them.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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How to Blanch Almonds

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Shell the almonds.

  2. Pour boiling water over the almonds and let them stand for 1 minute.

  3. Transfer the almonds to cold water.

  4. Rub the almonds between your hands to remove the skins.

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
Their skins are removed by blanching, leaving the nut pale and smooth.

The step that matters

Rubbing off the skins. Blanching only loosens the skins; if the almonds sit too long in hot water, the nuts can soften, so the skins should be slipped off promptly after the brief soak and cold-water dip.

“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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