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Dried Fruits and Nuts: Almonds
To Blanch Almonds Cover shelled almonds with boiling water, let stand two minutes, drain, cover with cold water, again drain. Brown skins can be easily slipped off with the fingers. Dry the nuts on a towel or piece of cheesecloth. Pistachio nuts and English walnuts may be blanched in the same way.
Salted Mixed Nuts Beat the white of one egg slightly, add nut meats of many kinds, and stir until they are entirely covered with the egg. Remove nuts from the egg and put in a dripping pan, sprinkle with salt and bake in a hot oven until nuts are heated through. Keep oven door open while baking, and stir nuts often, that they may not burn.
Two workhorse techniques from the nut chapter of a candy book: loosening almond skins, and the salted nuts that once ended a formal dinner. Both are still sound, with a few adjustments.
- Two minutes means two minutesAlmonds left in boiling water much longer begin to soften and lose flavor. The cold-water dip is not optional either; it stops the heating and cools the nuts enough to handle while the skins are still loose.
- Blanch, then dry thoroughlyDamp almonds will steam rather than toast, and they mold within days if stored. Spread them in a single layer and let them air-dry an hour or two, or hold them in a 200F oven for 10 minutes before going on.
- English walnuts are the weak linkWalnut skins cling far more stubbornly than almond skins and rarely slip off cleanly with this method. Pistachios blanch well and the treatment brightens their green, which is why they were valued for decorating candy.
- "A hot oven"In books of this period the term is conventionally reckoned at roughly 400-450F. With the door propped open, as instructed, the cavity temperature falls well below that, which suits nuts that need to heat through without scorching.
- Why the door stays openThe recipe gives the reason: with frequent stirring, it keeps the nuts from burning. The lower, drier heat also helps the coating set rather than staying tacky. The bake is short -- only until the nuts are heated through -- so watch for even golden color.
- Dripping panA rimmed sheet pan is the modern equivalent. Line it with parchment; egg white glues itself to bare metal.
- Salt and quantityOne egg white will coat roughly 3 to 4 cups of nut meats. Use fine or flaked salt and start with about a teaspoon per pound, adding more while the nuts are still tacky.
- Mixing nut typesAlmonds, pecans, cashews and hazelnuts toast at different rates. Either toast them in separate batches and combine at the end, or accept that the pecans will darken first.
- KeepingCool completely, then store airtight. They stay crisp about a week at room temperature and considerably longer frozen; the salt draws moisture and softens them over time.
Salted almonds occupied a fixed place in late-Victorian and Edwardian entertaining, set out in small silver or glass dishes along the dinner table with the olives and bonbons, and served through the meal rather than before it. Their appearance in a candy book is not a stray: salted nuts belonged to the same trade that produced chocolates and glacé fruits. The egg-white coating produces a drier, lighter nut with the salt fixed in place. Blanching itself is much older still, appearing in medieval European cookery where skinned almonds were pounded for almond milk during fast days when dairy was forbidden.