[Sca-cooks] Dates and Walnuts with Almond Paste

[Lilinah]

These two items were modern, although i'd love to get that source 
that Kiri mentioned for the almond paste stuffed apricots...

I don't really have recipes - but i can describe my process.

First, before starting anything i made a lot of almond paste. I used 
purchased blanched almonds from the Berkeley Bowl, because they are 
good quality, not stale, not rancid.

I put granulated sugar in the food processor, gave it a whirl to get 
it to a more or less powdered state.

Then i added an equal volume of almonds. I added a tiny bit of water, 
since i didn't want to put rosewater in all the almond paste.

Tamar bi'l Luuz - Almond paste-stuffed dates

I bought Medjool dates because they are fabulous.
I cut each one in half, and removed the pit and the calyx (the hard 
"cap" at one end).
Then i rolled a little almond paste between my fingers and stuffed it 
into the cavity left by the pit. If it wasn't enough, i added more 
and smoothed it out.

Jauz bi'l Luuz - Walnuts stuffed with Almond paste
well, i cheated and made them just as almond paste topped walnuts...

Because several of the items i was making used almond paste, i 
decided to wing it and give it some variety.

I mixed some of the almonds paste (maybe about 1-1/2 or 1-1/4 cup) 
with a bottle cap full of rose water, kneaded it by hand, then added 
some pomegranate syrup, enough to flavor and color it, but not so 
much that the almond paste got too soft. Then i took little balls and 
mashed it over the top, less flat side of 50 to 60 walnut halves. The 
color was sort of medium-light mauve, not really pink, not really 
purple.

The other batch i kneaded about the same amount of almond paste with 
a bottle cap full of orange blossom water. Then i added some bitter 
orange marmalade, mostly the "syrup" around the orange peel shreds, 
and when it was the right texture, i put that on top of 50 to 60 
walnuts halves. Then i put a thin shred of peel on top of each one. 
These had a faint orange hint.

At the event, i put each flavor on a paper doily a separate plate. 
Yeah, yeah, those paper doilies are so 19th and 20th and 21st C., but 
i think it helped make each item stand out.

SERVING NOTE:
I made cards for each plate of each item i served with the name of 
the item, the source and date of the recipe, and a list of 
ingredients, so people with food issues would know what was what.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita

My LibraryThing
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