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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 1 |
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Ingredients:
1 cup whole blanched almonds |
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind |
2 tablespoons water |
6 tablespoons sugar |
1 tablespoon butter or margarine |
24 large pitted dates |
sugar |
Directions:
1. Place almonds on a baking sheet, and bake at 250° for 8 to 10 minutes or until warm. Slowly feed almonds through a food grinder fitted with a coarse plate. Switching to a fine grinding plate, feed almonds through grinder 3 or 4 times until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in lemon rind. 2. Combine 2 tablespoons water and 6 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add butter and ground almonds, stirring vigorously until mixture leaves sides of pan. Transfer mixture to a small bowl. Cover and let cool 5 minutes. 3. Cut a lengthwise slit down center of each date to (but not through) the bottom, leaving ends intact. Mold a heaping teaspoonful of almond paste into a football shape; stuff inside date. Gently press sides until paste pushes up slightly above top of date. Pour a layer of sugar on a small plate. Roll each stuffed date in sugar. Serve immediately. 4. *One 7-ounce tube of almond paste may be substituted for fresh almond mixture. Knead lemon rind into paste, and proceed with recipe. You may also use a food processor or blender for grinding almonds, but results will not be as smooth. Any leftover almond paste should be covered and chilled up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature before using. |
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