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Creole Kisses (Lb Jordan almonds Whites eggs) (II)
1/2 lb. Jordan almonds Whites 4 eggs 1/4 cup boiling water 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt Blanch almonds, finely shred one-half of them, and dry slowly in oven. Put water and sugar in a saucepan, and as soon as boiling-point is reached, add remaining almonds, and cook until the syrup is of a golden brown color. Turn into a pan, cool, and finely pound in mortar. Beat whites of eggs until stiff, add gradually sugar, then vanilla, almonds, and salt. Shape, sprinkle with shredded almonds, sift sugar over them, and bake in a slow oven twenty-five minutes.
A meringue built on two forms of almond: half shredded and toasted, half caramelized into praline and ground to powder. The praline is what makes it Creole rather than a plain kiss.
- Which sugar goes whereThe recipe does not specify, but the half cup of plain sugar is almost certainly granulated and goes into the saucepan with the water for the caramel, while the 1 1/4 cups powdered (confectioners') sugar is what is beaten into the egg whites. The sugar sifted over the shaped kisses is unspecified; powdered is the obvious choice.
- Slow ovenRoughly 275 to 300F. Meringues at that heat in 25 minutes will be set and faintly colored rather than bone dry; if you want them crisp all the way through, hold them nearer 250F for an hour or more and let them cool in the turned-off oven.
- Blanching Jordan almondsJordan almonds here means the large sweet Spanish-type nut, not the candy-coated sort sold for weddings. Cover with boiling water for a minute, slip the skins, then dry them thoroughly before shredding or the caramel will seize.
- The caramelBoil the water and granulated sugar to a golden brown, no darker than a copper penny. Past that it turns bitter and the bitterness carries through the whole batch. Pour onto an oiled sheet, not an unlined pan, or you will chisel it out.
- Pounding the pralineA mortar was the period tool; a food processor works if you pulse. Ground continuously the warm nut oil releases and you get paste instead of powder. Cool the slab completely first.
- Folding inBeat the whites to stiff peaks, add the powdered sugar gradually, then fold the praline in by hand at the end. Beating it in deflates the meringue and the sugar in the praline draws moisture from the whites.
- ShapingDrop by teaspoon or pipe onto parchment. Silicone or parchment matters more than usual: praline-laden meringue sticks hard to bare metal.
- Yield and keepingAbout 30 to 36 small kisses. Store airtight the day they are made; humidity turns them tacky within hours.