5 Delectable Almond Recipes You Must Try This Christmas

Christmas is about being together with family and friends, Christmas tree and not to forget mouth-watering delicacies and cakes. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, follow these easy almond recipes to delight your loved ones on the occasion.Also Read – Delhi Govt Allows Religious Places For Celebration, Prayers on Christmas, New Year’s Eve | Check Revised Guidelines

Almond and Cherry Kulfi

Almond and Cherry Kulfi

(Serves: 4) Also Read – 5 Quirky And Fun Ways to Ring in Christmas, New Year in Delhi

Ingredients

• Fresh cherries, pitted 2 cups
• Water ½ cup
• Almond milk 4 cups
• Condensed milk ½ cup
• Heavy cream ½ cup
• Sugar 1/2 cup
• Almond meal ½ cup
• Toasted almond flakes 1 tbsp

Method: Also Read – Wondering How to Make Your House Christmas Ready? Shahnaz Husain Shares Tips

• Place cherries, water and ¼ cup sugar in a pan over low flame. Cook, stirring 5-6, minutes till the cherries soften and mixture thickens. Allow to cool and set aside.
• In a pan, add almond milk and put it on a low flame. Keep on stirring; do not let the almond milk burn. The milk will start to thicken.
• Once it becomes half the volume add the almond meal, condensed milk and sugar and mix them well. Allow it cool slightly and stir in the heavy cream. Strain the mixture.
• Add cooked cherry compote and mix well. Allow the kulfi mixture to cool, pour it into kulfi moulds or small bowls and freeze them.
• Demould the kulfi and serve it garnished with toasted almond flakes.

Badam Milk Mousse, Almond Biscuit

Badam milk mousse, Almond biscuit

(Serves: 7-8)

For Badam milk mousse

Ingredients 

• Almond flakes 45 gms
• Almond milk 150 ml
• White chocolate 425 gm
• Bakery cream 400 ml
• Egg yolk 5 no
• Fine sugar 50 gm
• Saffron ½ gm
• Green cardamom powder ½ tsp

For biscotti

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter 75 gms
• Castor sugar 100 gms
• Egg 1no
• Refined flour 150 gm
• Baking soda 1 gm
• Baking powder 3 gm
• Almond with skin 50 gm
• Almond powder 25 gm
• Zest of lemon 1 no

Method:

For Badam milk mousse

• Roast almonds flakes in preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 4 minutes or till golden in colour.
• Heat almond milk. Add white chocolate and make ganache. Add saffron threads and green cardamom powder, mix it thoroughly.
• Whisk yolks and sugar till creamy consistency.
• Beat bakery cream to ribbon consistency.
• Fold the ganache in beaten yolk and then fold the beaten cream into it.
• Pour mousse in a cup and chill, till it sets.
• Garnish mousse with slivers of almonds and almond biscotti.

For biscotti

• Roughly chop almonds with skin.
• Lightly cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add egg to bowl and again cream it.
• Add refined flour, baking soda, baking powder, lemon zest and almond powder to it mixture and
• Mix it thoroughly
• Fold in roughly chopped almonds.
• Shape the mixture like a French loaf and bake it at 180 Celsius for 20 minutes.
• Cool the loaf, cut it into thin slices and bake it at 150 Celsius for 8 to 10 minutes or till crisp.

Chocolate and Almond Rum Ball

Chocolate and Almond Rum Ball

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients 

• Chocolate sponge eggless 250 gm
• Dark chocolate (55% -70%) 100 gm
• Single cream(20-25%fat) 150 ml
• Almonds 100 gm
• Castor sugar 100 gm
• Instant coffee powder 10 gm
• Dark rum 15 ml

Method:

• Heat cream in a pan, give it a boil and remove from heat. Add the chocolate and keep aside till slightly cool and then mix well.
• Toast the almonds in the oven at 180 degree Celsius for 8-10 mins. Roughly chop the almonds.
• Heat castor sugar in a pan and caramelise, add the roughly chopped almonds and remove the nougat on to a parchment paper. Crush the nougat with a rolling pin till slightly coarse.
• In a mixing bowl crumb the chocolate sponge till breadcrumb consistency, add half the chocolate ganache, instant coffee powder dissolved in a teaspoon of water, rum, and mix with hands till the mixture is even in consistency.
• Now add 2/3 of the crushed almond nougat into the mix and form in to small round balls (35-40 gm) and refrigerate.
• Once slightly set, coat the rum balls with the remaining chocolate ganache.
• Garnish with almond nougat and serve

Spiced Almond Banana Jaggery Cake 

Spiced Almond Banana Jaggery Cake

Serves: 3 – 4 person

Ingredients

• Butter, unsalted 1/2 cup
• Jaggery powder 1/2 cup cinnamon
• Ground 1 ½ tsp
• Nutmeg, ground 1/4 tsp
• Almonds, sliced 1/2 cup
• Sugar 3/4 cup
• Eggs, large 3 no
• Orange zest 2 tsp
• Banana, ripped & mashed 1 1/4 cups
• All-purpose flour 3 cups
• Baking powder 1 1/2 tsp
• Baking soda 1 tsp
• Salt 1/2 tsp
• Buttermilk 2/3 cup

Method:

• Melt 1/4 cup of the butter. Pour 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into an 8-cup pan; brush the butter over pan sides and bottom. Mix together the jaggery, cinnamon, nutmeg, and almonds. Sprinkle bottom of pan with half the jaggery mixture; combine the remaining mixture with the remaining melted butter; set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat remaining 1/4 cup butter with granulated sugar until blended. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until blended. Beat in mashed banana.
• Mix all-purpose, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add to banana mixture along with the buttermilk; stir until well blended.
• Pour half the batter into prepared pan. Spoon remaining jaggery sugar mixture evenly over top; cover with remaining batter.
• Bake in a 180° oven until a long wood skewer inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool the cake on a rack about 5 minutes, then invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve the cake warm or cool.

Almond Cinnamon Tart

Almond Cinnamon Tart

(Serves: 3-4)

Ingredients

• Almond flake 1 cup
• Monaco biscuit 150 gm
• Cinnamon powder 2 gm
• Fine sugar 200 gm
• Fresh cream 200 ml
• Unsalted butter 60 gm

Method:

• Roast the almond flake in preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 4 minutes or till golden in colour.
• For toffee sauce, caramelize sugar, add 40 gms of butter followed by cream and thoroughly mix it
• For Monaco crumble, crush biscuits and mix 20 gm of butter with it. Spread this mixture in 6 inch mould and bake at 160 degree Celsius for 10 min.
• In a bowl mix, roasted almond slivers and toffee sauce and pour this mix over biscuit crumble in the mould.
• Bake the mix set in mould in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 15 min.
• Serve once done and demould the tart. Serve with vanilla bean ice-cream.