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Almond Croquettes
Take an equal quantity each of flour, almonds and sugar, the zest of two or three oranges rasped on lumps of sugar, two or three whole eggs, and an extra yolk or so. Scald the almonds and remove their skins, afterwards soaking for two hours in cold salt and water. Pound them thoroughly in a mortar, with a few drops of orange-water added to prevent oiling, until reduced to a pulp; then mix in the remainder of the ingredients by pounding all together. Knead the paste with a little flour on a slab, roll it with a bit of flat-board into the shape of a straight rolling-pin, lay this on a greased baking-board, and cover it over, baking in a moderate heat until done, then while hot, cut it up into slices, and dry on a baking-sheet in a very slow oven. After they are dried, moisten their edges with royal icing, dip them in finely-chopped pistachio kernels, and dry them for a few minutes.
These are French croquets — twice-baked almond sticks, closer to biscotti than to anything a modern cook means by "croquette." The hinge is the second bake: the log is sliced hot and then dried slowly until the slices are crisp all the way through, and skimping on that stage leaves them leathery.
- Equal quantities, by weightTake the flour, blanched almonds and sugar at 8 oz each as a starting point, which with two whole eggs and a yolk gives a stiff, workable paste. The original gives no absolute amounts, so add the eggs gradually and stop when the dough holds together — flour and almonds vary enough that a fixed egg count is guesswork.
- Zest on sugar lumpsRubbing whole sugar cubes over the orange skin until they are soaked yellow, then crushing them into the sugar, was the standard way to capture the oil before microplanes existed. Finely grated zest worked into the sugar with your fingers does the same job.
- Orange-waterThis is orange-flower water, distilled from bitter orange blossom, not orange juice or an extract. A few drops keep the almonds from turning oily under pounding; a teaspoon is plenty for this quantity.
- Mortar and food processorA processor will reduce the almonds far faster than a mortar, but it also heats them and drives out oil. Pulse in short bursts with a spoonful of the sugar and the orange-flower water, and stop at a damp meal rather than a butter.
- The salt-water soakThe recipe calls for two hours in cold salt and water after blanching but does not say why. It is optional by modern standards; if you do it, drain and pat the almonds dry or the paste will need noticeably more flour.
- Oven temperatures"A moderate heat" is 350F for the first bake — roughly 25 to 30 minutes for a log about 2 inches across, until firm and only lightly coloured. The "very slow oven" for drying the slices is 250F or lower, 30 to 45 minutes, turning once.
- Cover it overThe recipe covers the log during the first bake without saying why; keeping the surface pale and soft enough to slice cleanly while hot is the likely purpose. An inverted pan or a loose tent of foil does this; slice with a serrated knife the moment it comes out.
- Royal icingTraditional royal icing is raw egg white beaten with icing sugar. Since it is only brushed on the edges and never cooked, use pasteurised whites or meringue powder if you are serving anyone vulnerable.
- YieldAbout 30 to 36 slices from the quantities above. Fully dried and kept airtight, they hold for two or three weeks.
The name is a translation problem rather than a mistake: French croquets (from croquer, to crunch) are hard, twice-baked almond biscuits sold by provincial bakers, and nineteenth-century English kitchens rendered the word as "croquette" whether the thing was fried and savoury or baked and sweet. The method here — pounding almonds in a mortar with orange-flower water to stop them oiling, zesting on lump sugar, drying in a cooling oven — is straight out of the confectioner's side of a professional kitchen, and the recipe assumes a cook who already knows what a slab and a baking-board are and never bothers to say how many it makes.