How to Blanch Almonds

image courtesy of www.allposters.com

Tomorrow I am going to make one of my favourite cakes, a flourless orange and almond cake.

This is not the most frugal of cakes as it requires 250 g or 8 ounces of ground almonds. And ground almonds are very expensive.

Fortunately, whole almonds in their little brown coats, as in the picture above, are significantly less expensive. I prefer to buy almonds this way and blanch them myself, before grinding them in the food processor.

Blanching is a culinary term for the process of removing the almonds' skins. Here's how you do it:

Blanched (peeled) almonds

1. Weigh the amount of almonds you need and place in a bowl.
2. Cover the almonds with boiling water.
3. Wait 5 minutes.
4. Peel the almonds. The skins should slide off easily. Don't drain the almonds before peeling them or the skin will tighten up; just take them out of the water one by one.

There you go. Beautiful blanched almonds without the expense.

image courtesy of www.almondbrothers.com

Stay tuned and tomorrow I'll post the recipe for my flourless orange and almond cake.