Almond paste, not to be confused with marzipan, is used by many cultures, including the Scandinavian or Nordic countries. It is folded into cake batter, crumbled on top of bars, and used to fill yeasted buns and rolls.
It's also common in Middle Eastern cuisine, where it originated, but shows up in desserts all over Europe, especially in French, German, and Italian pastries, and even in North Africa.
Readily available at pretty much any grocery store or specialty food shop, almond paste is also super easy to make at home. And also far less expensive!
You'll need almond flour, powdered sugar, an egg white, almond extract, and salt. And that's it.
Almond paste dries out pretty quickly, so I have found that making my own when a recipe calls for it works out to be a better solution than trying to keep it on hand all the time.
That way I always have fresh almond paste when I need it for recipes like my Rustic Peach Almond Galette.
This recipe will yield about a cup and a half of almond paste - just under a pound - or about 14 ounces (which is equivalent to two of the standard boxes of commercial almond paste).
Scroll down for the printable recipe.
Homemade Almond Paste
Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
1 3/4 cups almond flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
Combine the almond flour, sugar, egg white, extract, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture starts to clump and forms a cohesive ball, about 1 or 2 minutes.
You can taste and adjust the amount of extract and salt at this point if you wish. Just be sure to combine them completely after adding.
Dust your cutting board or flat surface with a light layer of powdered sugar, then form the almond paste into a log about 2 inches in diameter.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
And that's it! You'll never need to buy almond paste again!
Tip: Your almond paste should last in the refrigerator for about a month, or you can freeze it for up to 6 months for longer storage. If you are going to freeze it, I suggest cutting it into rounds first to make it easier to portion out later.
