baking question: almond paste

Sold in most better supermarkets and wholesalers, No you cant replkace it, its unique to the recipe as far as flavor and consistancy. Seek and ye shall find,;)

Another name for almond paste is marzipan. It should be available, although I realize you have difficulties finding European and American type ingredients based on your location. Still, I think you can find it under one name or another.

For what it's worth, another name for hazelnuts is filberts -- although I'd imagine you'd be more likely to find them as hazelnuts. But whatever.

You can make your own nut pastes using any nut you like:

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups blanched, skinned nuts
1-1/2 cups to 1-3/4 cup superfine sugar (depends on the nut)
1 egg white
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp nut or vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

Technique:
Grind the nuts in a food processor or blender into a fine flour. Add the sugar and pulse. Taste, and adjust for sugar. Add the egg white, lemon juice, extract, salt and process until a paste forms. Empty the paste onto a piece of cling wrap. Using the wrap, roll the paste into a log and refrigerate for at least four hours, preferably overnight, before using.

Refrigerate up to three weeks, freeze up to four months.

This is very basic technique and every good cook with pastry pretentions should know how to do it. Considering how good are, I'm surprised your teachers didn't give it to you. That's teachers for you. I'm just glad I could.

Makes me happy,
BDL

Almond paste

there is no substitute for almond paste......

Almond paste is,,,,,,,,,,,,almond paste straight and pure. expencive.

marzipan is some times a reduced version of almond paste, or some times just so lousy almond flavoured and coloured bright yellow sugar mixture.
cheaper and not worth your time and effort, just my 2 cents worth,;-)))
qahtan

Sorry to disagree with you but Marzipan is not a cheaper version of almond paste. Read BDL s post. Marzipan is a product of basic almond paste. It is used for moulding and sculpting various food items as well as in baking. It is used to make candy and ornaments for cakes, tops for petite fours and layer and wedding cakes. The
recipe [BDL gave is a good one . I have made it almost the same way useing some corn syrup in the mix for the moisture factor with the egg white.:D

almond paste

If you read my post I said

"marzipan is some times a reduced version of almond paste, or some times just so lousy almond flavoured and coloured bright yellow sugar mixture.
cheaper and not worth your time and effort, "

Not all marzipan is crappy but there is a lot on the market these days that is. qahtan

The difference between almond paste and marzipan is usually only sweetness. Sometimes almond paste is only water, sugar, and almonds. Sometimes it has a touch more of this and that to make it easier to mold. Marzipan is almost always made to be very malleable. The recipe I gave for generic nut pastes pretty much splits the difference for both sweetness and malleability.

You know far more about pastry making than I do, and normally I'd just go into a corner for a good cry. But I feel pretty strong about this. I've been making my own almond paste (and other nut pastes), off and on for several decades, and it's every bit as good as the nuts it's made from.

There's no secret to it at all. And, since the advent of good home food processors, blenders, and mills, not much effort to it either. I didn't mention, but should have, that with a good enough processor (say a Vita-Mix) you don't even need to use superfine sugar. The machine will take care of it.

The thing is, there's no substitute for good nuts -- so you don't save that much by doing it yourself with almond paste when you consider the cost of best Spanish almonds. It's of value for people like HIME who don't have the same access to ingredients we do, and for particular pastes which aren't really available otherwise -- macadamia, for instance, or even pecan.

BDL

Almond paste

I still prefer pure almond paste to marzipan ;-)))

Yes marzipan is sweeter than almond paste......
But if only you could see taste some of the stuff that is sold here as marzipan, I even have trouble getting pure almond paste now.....

by choice I prefer Odense almond paste from Denmark that was at one time sold in two pound blocks, now all I can get is 7 oz bars. ;-(((( qahtan

Hazelnut paste is made the same way as almond paste. In fact, you can make a paste with any nut in the same way, varying the amount of sugar slightly, to taste -- and sometimes, depending on the nut, a little water is needed. Best, then, to have some hot simple syrup on hand.

In any case, I always add a little lemon juice. It seems to make things taste fresher. But if you choose not to use it, okay by me.

Nutella is hazelnut paste, plus cocoa, powdered skim milk, and some other stuff. You can definitely use it for baking -- but it's not the same as a nut paste or marzipan.

BDL

Almond Paste is almonds and sugar ground to a paste between steel rollers.
Generally 1:1

Hazelnut Paste is Hazelnuts and sugar ground in a blender or churner.
Generally 3:1 or more sugar depending to the usage.

Almond paste keeps the fat from coming out and Hazelnut is like peanut butter with the fat extracted and worked back in.

Marzipan is a sugar paste made with 2 pt sugars to 1 pt almond paste.


Almond Kernal paste is a cheap substitute for Almond paste and can be bought at restaruant depot or at online gourment/baking sites.

If you are experienced you can sub the paste for ground nuts or even cake/bread crumbs.

When it comes to pastry cheffing at all, pastry making in general, and defined measurement -- trust m.brown more than BDL. I know I do.

That said, my home made thing which falls between a marzipan and a paste works very well for most purposes and every nut I've tried. Neither too sweet (marzipan), nor so crumbly it's difficult to work (paste).

When it comes to switching nut types, I've tried to leave enough flexibility in the recipe and the directions to suggest that the amount of sugar may need a lot of adjustment. Also, you can do it at home, are not dependent on off-contient suppliers, and need not be deterred by an incomplete pantry.

As to hazelnut paste in particular, I mean sweet hazelnut paste, aka "nocciola," and stand by my approximate quantities. I've never seen a 3:1 nocciola, nor have I seen one (at least not home made) made without egg whites. But that's me. As I said, not a pastry chef.

Anyway... m.brown rocks!

BDL

BDL you crack me up! :smiles:

I just did a class on almond paste, marzipan and frangipan- can you say yum!
So it's fresh in my mind.

We are all here to help and I hope I did.
Happy baking! Happy cooking!

No, you cannot replace almond paste - which is dough like, with hazelnut paste- which is peanut butter like in texture.

If you would like to make hazelnut paste, put toasted hazlenuts or filberts in a food processor with cooled melted sugar and process to a smooth paste, optional - pass thru a cheese cloth.

other name for hazelnut paste:
praline paste
giandijua
hazelnut or filbert butter (in the barky crunchy section of the grocery store):smiles:

If you can't find hazelnuts, look for filberts. Very close relative to the point fo being almost the same thing. If you can't find filberts, oh well. Actually there's a thing called a "cob nut" which is a very close relative to the other two, but you don't see them much. I've never had the opportunity to try one.

Hazelnut is very distinctive. Other than the filbert, I don't think there's anytihng else which tastes much like it. You didn't mention macadamia as being available, but that would be my next choice.

If you use pecan or walnut -- make sure they are well hulled. You don't wany hull at all. You may even want to blanch them, and rub them yourself just to be sure. If you do, you'll have to dry for a couple of days before (lightly) toasting and grinding. California walnuts can occasionally be bitter. Much as it pains me to say it, it's safer to use English or black walnuts.

Cashews are easily avaialble in your part of the world, aren't they? Again, a very distinctive nut. Not what you'd call typical for Danish pastry, but I can't imagine it would do any harm. Cashews are very oily. When you grind them, be careful not to process too long or heat will build up, force the oil out, and you'll end up with cashew butter. Adding the sugar before the nuts are ground to flour will help some.

If you're making your own paste, remember to taste for sweetness several times along the way.

BDL

I've used pistachio paste in place of almond paste before. I purchased it at King Arthur Flour, but I would imagine you could make it as described above, after roasting to get the skins off.

Filberts are free-range Hazelnuts:roll:

Free range. Good one. Don't forget the plaid shirts and jeans and boots. They're all cob nuts. Same nut.

On the other hand, Euro and Turkish hazelnuts are crispier and not as intense than the Oregon filberts (which I prefer). Something like the difference between California and Spanish almonds -- they're the same but different.

HIME's in Asia and doesn't have a comprehensive selection of Euro and American ingredients. So, it's catch as catch can for her; and when I write to her I try to thow in as many possibilities as I can think of -- hoping one or two will be available.

BDL

Good to know BDL, I would go with the cashew, toasted and pureed with some caramelized sugar.

Good stuff!:smiles:

As long as I'm having this conversation with my betters, this could be a good place to mention that you can make superb nut crusts for cheesecakes, tarts, etc., by grinding (hulled) nuts with sugar, egg white, and a touch of lemon juice. Of course you don't grind as fine, and you use less sugar.

Also, great for those rare occasions you're called upon to make a low-carb dessert.

BDL

Depends on how you were planning to use the paste in the green tea opera cake you were planning. Nut paste isn't normally a part of Matcha Opera Cake -- at least as I know it. That is, layers of matcha genoise, chocolate ganache, and matcha buttercream in very thin, straight strata. If you're planning to use the paste as I imagine it would be used, as a separate layer, perhaps as a substitute for the interior ganache, then:

Almond Paste: Yes, kind of. You can use almond paste or any other nut paste -- of course the character of the pastry will be different with each paste. I don't see why a variety of different nuts wouldn't go well with both green tea and chocolate.

Nutella: No. Absolutely, not. In addition to the cocoa, milk, and excessive sweetness, Nutella is ground beyond paste to "butter," and would be too sticky-gooey.

BDL

So, my husband can't eat almonds, but I would like to make these cookies.  Is there any nut past that could possibly replace the almonds?  I know that texture is super unique and it may be a reach, but I'm hoping...

-Jez

Since you mentioned you have a good deal of experience at making nut pastes, I was wondering have you ever made giandijua?  I have a Vita Mix as well,  for a long time now, maybe we have the unit from the same time period, and have heard of some wonderful cakes or pastry recipes calling for it. Being rather pricey to purchase I figured it would be cheaper to make, but hate to experiment and throw away good products if it doesn't turn out.

Thanks