Chocolate Almond Dessert Recipes

CHOCOLATE ALMOND DESSERT

Steps:

• Arrange half of the cake cubes in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. dish; set aside. In a large saucepan, whisk milk and pudding mixes. Add candy bar. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer or until thickened., Pour half of the pudding over cake cubes. Sprinkle with half of the almonds; cover and refrigerate. Transfer remaining pudding to a small bowl; cover and refrigerate until chilled., Arrange remaining cake cubes over dessert. Whisk chilled pudding; fold in whipped cream. Spread over top and sprinkle with remaining almonds. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut into squares.

CHOCOLATE COVERED ALMONDS

Steps:

• Place the granulated sugar and water in a large copper pot or 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the almonds and stir to coat them evenly in the sugar syrup. Your goal is to cook the almonds until the sugar crystallizes and caramelizes.
• When water is added to the sugar, the sugar crystals are dissolved. As it boils, the syrup becomes thicker as the water evaporates and big soap-like bubbles begin to form. Soon, all the moisture evaporates and the mixture becomes sandy. The sandiness is the sugar recrystallizing. It only takes the reformation of one sugar crystal to recrystallize the others. Keep stirring! Next, you see the sugar closest to the heat change from sandy to a clear liquid. The melted sugar clings to the almonds. When the sugar changes from clear to golden brown, the nuts are caramelized. Once this happens, pay close attention; the time it takes to pass from caramelized to burned is only a matter of seconds, especially when making smaller batches. You know the nuts are finished when most of the sandy sugar is gone.
• The first few times you make these, I suggest you try the following: When the sugar closest to the heat changes from sandy to liquid, remove the pan from the burner and continue to stir. The residual heat in the sugar and nuts will continue to cook the mixture while you stir it. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to stir the nuts while moving the saucepan on and off the heat at 10-second intervals. This will give you more control as it cooks. When the nuts begin to caramelize, remove them from the heat and finish stirring.
• Use a wooden spoon to spread the caramelized nuts onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Do not touch the nuts as they are extremely hot. Let the nuts cool completely. If your freezer will accommodate the baking sheet, you can place the nuts in the freezer for about 30 minutes to speed up the cooling process. When completely cooled, break apart any nut clusters that may have formed. At this stage, you can choose to serve the nuts as they are.
• Place the caramelized nuts in the coating pan attached to the stand mixer. Spin at low speed. Use a ladle to add the chocolate to the spinning nuts. Add 1 ladle at a time until the nuts are coated to the desired thickness. If a thicker coat is desired, use more chocolate. If a thinner coat is desired, decrease the amount of chocolate. Finish by adding cocoa powder to the coating pan. Remove and serve.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND TREATS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch, square baking pan with heavy-duty foil, folding the foil over the edges of the pan.
• Put butter in pan and melt in oven. Add brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla; stir to mix.
• Add cereal and stir with a spoon, then mix with fingers until thoroughly coated. Place waxed paper on top and press down gently but firmly.
• Bake for 25 minutes until entire surface is bubbly. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and let stand for chips to soften.
• Spread chips, then sprinkle with almonds, pressing gently into chocolate. Let cool until just warm, then refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight before cutting.
• Using foil as a lifter, remove from pan and, without inverting (almond would peel off), peel off foil. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE-ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Whipped Creme Fraiche: Whisk cream with vanilla and salt until thickened and silky but not yet forming peaks. Add sugar and creme fraiche; whisk to soft peaks, 1 to 2 minutes more. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate in an airtight container up to 8 hours; stir before using.
• Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter with 3/4 cup granulated sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Add almond flour and salt; beat to combine. In a separate bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and beat to soft peaks, about 1 minute. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, beating until stiff but not dry peaks form, about 1 minute more. Stir one-third of egg-white mixture into batter until no streaks remain. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture just to combine (do not overmix). Transfer to prepared pan; gently smooth top with an offset spatula.
• Bake until puffed slightly and set along edges but still slightly wobbly in center, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely, about 2 hours. Remove sides of pan. Using a spatula, gently lift cake from pan; slide onto a cake plate. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into wedges; serve with creme fraiche and raspberries.

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND PASTRIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange puff pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Trim edges if needed to form a 10-inch square, and fold each edge in to form a 1-inch crust. Prick middle of dough all over with a fork. Brush edges with eggwash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Freeze for 15 minutes.
• Transfer baking sheet to oven, and bake until pastry ispuffed and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove fromoven, and cover center evenly with chocolate. Drizzle withhoney, and sprinkle with salt. Return to oven, and bake untilchocolate melts, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds,and cut into 4 squares. Serve with ice cream if desired, anddrizzle with more honey.