Sunday, December 4, 2011

What's Cooking? - Almond Puff

This recipe is my favorite treat for the Holidays. My mom found it in a huge box of recipes she bought. It had recipe cards that you purchased by a set a month. So much easier to buy a book.

This recipe was worth the cost of the whole set and I really can't remember making anything else out of those recipe cards.

It looks harder than it is and it is really worth the effort. Don't be afraid, just jump right in and you will be pleasantly surprised at what you can accomplish. We've tweaked the recipe a bit over the years to add a bit more yummy almond.

ALMOND PUFF

BOTTOM LAYER
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cold water

TOP LAYER
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
3 eggs

GLAZE
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1/2 cup sliced almonds


1. In a medium bowl, cut the 1/2 cup of butter into the 1 cup of flour
until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the cold water one
tablespoon at a time. Using your hands or a fork, stir until the dough can
form a ball. Divide dough in half. Roll or press each half into a 12x3 inch
rectangle. Place them 3 inches apart onto an unprepared cookie sheet.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. In a saucepan, bring the 1/2 cup of butter, and 1 cup of water to a
rolling boil. Lower heat and stir in the flour immediately with a wooden
spoon. Continue to stir vigorously until the dough forms a tight ball.
Remove from heat. Stir in eggs one at a time, then stir in the almond
extract. Spread equally onto both rectangles. Bake for 10 minutes
before lowering the oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees
C). Continue to cook for 15 to 20 more minutes. The top should be
crispy and brown.
4. To make the glaze, beat the confectioners' sugar together with the
melted butter and almond extract until smooth. Spread over the almond puff
when cool, and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Cut into strips and serve.

4 comments:

Pili said...

Sounds very very yummy!

Poppys Wicked Garden said...

ha ha easy if you don't double the butter, I won't make that mistake again

Evelina said...

This is a very flawed recipe.
The top layer made way too much and could have covered another full ball of dough for the bottom layer - if I ever make this again, I will only use half of what it says.
I put 2 teaspoons of almond extract in and I can barely taste it. This puff is virtually flavorless, there seems to be at least 2 other ingredients missing, one of them has to be sugar in one of the layers.
There is also no indication of how thick each rectangle should be for the bottom layer and it was impossible to get it into the dimensions it suggests which wasn't really a problem. It does not say how thick the top layer should be either and with so much of the top layer batter left, it seems like it should have been 5 inches thick if you don't make another ball of dough for the bottom layer.
I also don't think the temperature should be lowered, these were still wet and doughy inside after the second half of 20 minutes. I had to put them back in for another 8 minutes to be okay. Luckily they didn't burn...or maybe they should have because it would have given these some flavor!!

akaCINDERS said...

Evelina, The bottom layer is kind of like pie crust and much thinner than the top layer. The top layer is like puff pastry, a bit tricky, and getting the ball to form properly is critical. If not it will be a lump of dough. The top layer has to puff like the picture. The sugar comes in the glaze. The base is like a simple puff on a cust, with a sweet almond glaze. Our family has made this every Christmas for close to 40 years and we love it.

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