Description
Ingredients
Units
- 1 1/3 cup (200 g) raw almonds
- 6 tbsp (80 g) cane sugar or granulated white sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2-4 (200-400 g) sweet or semi-sweet milk chocolate bars
- cocoa powder or powdered sugar (for coating)
Instructions
- Roast the Almonds: Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C). Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Let it cool.
- Candy the Almonds: In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, salt and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, swirling the pan occasionally (don’t stir with a spoon to avoid crystallization). Heat until the sugar syrup reaches 120°C (about 250°F).
- Crispy Sugar Coating (Easiest): Add the roasted almonds to the syrup. Mix with a spatula. Turn off the heat and continue stirring until the almonds are coated with a white, sugary crust. Shake off excess sugar using a mesh strainer. Let cool completely.
- Crunchy Sugar Coating: Add the roasted almonds to the melted sugar. Mix with a spatula. Reduce heat to low and continue stirring until the almonds are coated with a white, sugary crust. Keep stirring with a spatula until the sugar browns a little bit and forms larger sugar crystals. Transfer to a lined baking sheet and cool completely.
- Caramelized Crystallization (In-between): This version is in between crunchy sugar coating and crunchy caramelized coating (my personal favourite). After the sugar has crystalized, continue mixing over medium heat until half caramelized. Remove from heat and mix in 2 tsp of butter. Spread the almonds on baking paper, stirring to separate while hot. See more details in my candied white chocolate almonds recipe.
- Crunchy Smooth Caramelized Coating: If you prefer to caramelize the sugar coating do not turn off the heat and continue heating after the sugar turns whiteish. Once sugars crystallize, reduce the heat to low and mix continuously. If the heat is too high, it’ll caramelize before the sugar has completely melted. Once all the sugar crystals are melted, increase the heat and finish caramelizing. Once auburn in colour, add 2 tsp of butter to prevent sticking. Spread the almonds on baking paper, stirring to separate while hot. See more details in my white chocolate caramelized almonds recipe.
- Temper/Melt the Chocolate:
- Dark or Semi-Sweet Chocolate: Finely chop the chocolate and divide it into two portions: 2/3 and 1/3. Melt the larger portion (2/3) in a heatproof bowl over simmering water (double boiler), ensuring the bowl does not touch the water. Stir continuously until it reaches 115°F (46°C). Remove from heat and add the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate. Stir until it cools to 82°F (28°C). Reheat gently over the double boiler until it reaches 88–90°F (31–32°C). The chocolate is now tempered and ready to use.
- Milk Chocolate: Follow the same steps as above, but melt the chocolate to 110°F (43°C), cool it to 80°F (27°C), and reheat to 86–88°F (30–31°C).
- For regular melted chocolate, heating to 40°C is sufficient.
- Coat with Chocolate: Place the cooled caramelized almonds in a large bowl. Pour about 1/6 of the chocolate over the almonds. Stir with a spatula until the chocolate hardens. Repeat this process 5 more times, ensuring the almonds are evenly coated.
- Optional step: Transfer the almonds to another bowl and microwave the bowl with the excess chocolate around it for 20-30 seconds or until you can scrape it off with the spatula. Place the almonds back in and coat it in the leftover chocolate.
- Final Coating Once the final chocolate layer hardens, dust the almonds with cocoa powder or non-melting powdered sugar until fully coated. Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container.
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 270
- Sugar: 13.7 g
- Sodium: 93 mg
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12 g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Fiber: 4.3 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 0.6 mg