L.A. Times Test Kitchen Tips: Making your own almond meal
Thursday's Culinary SOS for the whole-wheat apple butter cake from Huckleberry uses almond meal to help give the cake its unique texture and wonderfully dense crumb.
Almond meal can generally be found in well-stocked markets in the Los Angeles-area. but I just got an e-mail from a reader who can't seem to find it at any of her local stores.
No worries. Almond meal (or flour) is nothing more than ground almonds. Simply pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Be careful not to pulse too much, however, or you'll end up with more of a spread, or almond butter. Both regular (skin on) or blanched almonds are fine.
If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an e-mail at noelle.carter@latimes.com.
-- Noelle Carter
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Photo credit: Jonathan Wing
I got this great tip via email from Dana in New York:
"Love using almond meal in baking. It makes cakes and cookies so moist and rich. Using cold almonds (from freezer or fridge) and pulsing rather than whirling helps when grounding nuts. So does including a bit of the sugar or flour from a recipe. Either one helps avoid the meal getting oily as the nuts grind. "
Thanks so much, Dana!
Posted by: noelle carter | February 16, 2011 at 11:02 AM
I always make my own almond meal. Depending on the recipe - raw almonds with skin and blanched almonds and roasted for others.
I also make my own walnut meal for these cookies.
http://casa-giardino.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-favorite-treats-dolci-di-noci.html
Posted by: Elisa | February 11, 2011 at 07:06 AM
You should use raw almonds for this.
Posted by: Russ Parsons | February 10, 2011 at 05:51 PM
Is there any difference between using raw or roasted almonds?
Posted by: Lorena | February 10, 2011 at 02:41 PM