IngredientsNuts & dried fruit
Mandelnalmonds
The seed of Prunus dulcis, a relative of peach and plum. Mild, faintly sweet, without the bitterness of hazelnut.
German baking keeps three forms on the shelf: blanched and ground for marzipan and almond cake, flaked for topping, slivered for Stollen and biscuits.
Blanchierenblanching them
Pour boiling water over the almonds, leave them a minute, drain. The brown skin then slips off between two fingers.
For marzipan the skin has to go, or the paste turns grey and tastes bitter.
In Mexikoin Mexico
Almendras sit in every supermarket and every mercado: whole, flaked and ground.
Whole keeps longest. Ground almonds go rancid in this heat and start smelling of old oil, so buy small amounts or grind your own. Flaked almonds brown very fast in the oven, so watch them.