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To Blanch and to Pound Almonds

A method for blanching almonds and pounding them into a smooth paste.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,645 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

To Blanch and to Pound Almonds

Ingredients

Directions

Blanch and peel

  1. Place almonds in a saucepan with plenty of cold water and heat slowly until just scalding.

  2. Transfer the almonds to a basin, peel them, and place them in cold water as you finish peeling.

  3. Dry the almonds well with a soft cloth before using.

Dry and pound

  1. For easier pounding, dry the almonds in a warm room for 2‑3 days on a large dish.

  2. While pounding, sprinkle the almonds with a few drops of cold water, white of egg, or lemon juice.

  3. Pound the almonds to a smooth paste, preferably after roughly chopping them.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Provide the main body and fat of the paste once pounded smooth.
White of egg
Added in small amounts while pounding to help bind the almonds into a smooth paste.
Lemon juice
Added in small amounts while pounding to help bind the almonds into a smooth paste.

The step that matters

Heat the almonds only until just scalding. Slow heating to just below boiling loosens the skins so they slip off easily. Overheating can soften the almonds and cook them, making them harder to peel cleanly and altering their texture.

“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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