Almond paste

In Sweden, almond paste is different from marzipan, because almond paste has a higher content of almonds than marzipan. Typically almond paste is made with egg white or milk. If you want the almond paste to last longer, you can replace the above mentioned ingredients with bourbon (and some drops of almond essence, if you want to downplay the smell of bourbon). These can be used in pastries, cakes, cinnamon rolls or relished with bread. You can also, after some refrigeration, add some food colouring to the almond paste and make various shapes associated with Christmas, for this Christmas. I am sending this as my entry to Back to Basics event conducted by Aqua, initiated by Jaya.

200 g blanched almonds
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 egg white or 2-3 tbs milk

Blanch the almonds. You can either bring some water to boil, add the almonds and boil for about 4-5 minutes and then blanch the almonds or let the almonds soak in warm water for a couple of minutes and then peel the skin off. Allow to dry in a towel and then slice the almonds. Slicing them before grinding makes it easier to get a fine paste. Grind them in a food processor. If you have a small grinder, grind in small batches. Grind the almonds as finely as you can. In a bowl, add the ground almonds and sugar and mix. Grind it again with the sugar. In a bowl, mix the almond mixture with the egg white or milk. Mix well into a firm paste and your almond paste is ready. Wrap up the almond paste tightly in a plastic sheet, like you would a sausage, and keep it in the fridge until needed.