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You are here: Home / Holiday Baking / How to make your own Almond Paste

How to make your own Almond Paste

36 Comments Holiday Baking, Sweet baking almonds

The perfect Christmas Stollen filling!

Klik hier voor de Nederlandse versie
Almond paste, used in Holland in Christmas and Easter stollen and speculaas, is deliciously easy to prepare.

The paste can be made well in advance because it keeps for a long time in the fridge or freezer. We recommend storing it in the fridge for up to one month and in the freezer for three months (provided you have not yet enriched the paste with egg). Make sure no air can get to the paste. We find the ‘sweet spot’ for the use of this paste is after one to two weeks.

Ingredients for the Almond Paste

250 g white unsalted almonds

250 g fine sugar

zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

little bit of water (around 50 g/50 ml, 3 to 4 tbsps)

IMG_9178

Making the Almond Paste
Put the almonds and sugar in a grinding device or a mill (for instance an old coffee grinder) and grind the almonds to a very fine powder consistency. You can also buy ready made almond flour in some shops, this will save you the trouble of grinding but it may cost more. Now add the lemon zest and some water and first stir with a spoon, then get your hands in, until you have a smooth but very firm paste, not too wet and not too dry.

We recommend to not use the paste immediately after making but to store it in the fridge for a week or so. It will only get better as the ingredients blend together.

Adding 50 grams of water may seem very little, but the paste will need no more than a small amount of liquid. Just squeeze an amount under the back of a spoon or in your hand to judge how it comes together.

Before using it in your bread or pie, knead some beaten egg through the paste so it becomes even smoother and easier to work with. Add the egg in stages, until you reach the consistency you want. We add between 1/4 and 1/2 of a small egg for every 150 g of almond paste, depending on the dryness and firmness of the paste. Adding the egg at this later stage is for obvious reasons of freshness, because it would not be good to store the paste for weeks with the raw egg in it. You can also use just egg yolk and add some butter to the paste to make it even richer and smoother.

Also very good when spread on the bottom of an apple pie.

Holiday Baking, Sweet baking almonds

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Comments

  1. Patricia Ratna Puspitasari says

    December 20, 2024 at 11:13

    Saya sangat senang mendapatkan resep ini. Saya akan mencoba membuat Christmas ring dgn isian almond paste di dalam nya. Setelah jadi saya akan memberitahu anda hasilnya. Terima kasih

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      December 21, 2024 at 08:29

      Halo Patricia,
      Senang sekali mendapat komentar Anda
      We love to hear about your results with the recipe.

      Selamat berlibur dan selamat tahun baru
      Enjoy your baking / Nikmati kuemu

      Reply
  2. Curtis Lambert says

    February 19, 2024 at 02:08

    This is a great recipe Thank You !…Apon learning about Milk that requires no refrigeration because of very high homogenized Temps I think maybe that could be substituted for the egg or butter or maybe even olive oil. I’m just thinking of how to lower the fat content.

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      February 20, 2024 at 15:56

      Hello Curtis,
      Thank you for this very interesting suggestion. Maybe even a plant based (almond) milk would be an option. We have to give it a try to know if it works well within the various bakes. We would love to hear more if and when you give any alternative a try.

      Enjoy your baking

      Reply
  3. Lynn Phillips says

    November 10, 2022 at 01:02

    One question
    I read about using mace in a recipe for stollen is mace and almond
    butter the same?please help me
    Phillips

    Reply
    • Donna says

      December 3, 2022 at 03:01

      Mace is a ground spice made from the outer covering of the fresh nutmeg nut. I think almond butter is not the same as almond paste. I hope that answers your question.

      Reply
  4. Vicky says

    December 7, 2020 at 19:16

    I just want to say how helpful you are. The recipes are written so carefuĺly simple and never waffle on. I am glad to be given more ideas for using almond paste. I have an old Hungarian recipe which uses almond paste in an apple pie .and it was good to be reminded of it.Thankyou.

    Reply
    • Alice says

      December 8, 2023 at 06:02

      How to make eerst staaven.

      Reply
      • Weekend Bakers says

        December 8, 2023 at 07:34

        Do you mean Kerststaven?

        Reply
  5. Monica says

    April 8, 2020 at 21:29

    can you use store bought almond paste?

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      April 11, 2020 at 18:38

      Yes, that is no problem Monica.

      Reply
  6. Janet Graziano says

    November 27, 2018 at 14:27

    How can I fix my home made almond paste? It’s very wet! my cookies got flat!

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      November 27, 2018 at 14:40

      Hello Janet,
      We would suggest to add equal amounts of almond flour and sugar to the wet paste, to make it drier.

      Reply
  7. Marianne Arthurs says

    November 13, 2018 at 01:03

    If using almond flour, how much would i need if i use it with 250 g of sugar.

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      November 15, 2018 at 22:28

      Hello Marianne,
      Always equal parts or there about, so in your case 250 grams of almond flour combined with 250 grams of sugar would be excellent.

      Enjoy your paste making and baking!

      Reply
  8. Juliana says

    July 10, 2017 at 03:51

    Hello,
    Could you please let me know for how long the almond paste can be stored in the fridge? I found some left overs from last christmas on my fridge! I wonder if i can still use them.
    Thank you 🙂

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      July 17, 2017 at 12:19

      Hi Juliana,
      We would not recommend using it after this many months. Sorry we did not state exactly how long you can keep it in the fridge or freezer in the posting above. We would recommend using the homemade version kept in the fridge within one month and if stored in the freezer within three months. We find the optimum is to use the paste after one to two weeks in the fridge. Make sure no air can get to the paste. You can also judge the quality of the paste after a while by checking the consistency (no hard or dried out bits for instance) and pliability.

      Reply
  9. Pat says

    November 18, 2016 at 04:22

    How much almond paste do you get from this recipe?

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      November 18, 2016 at 15:27

      Hello Pat,
      250 grams of almond paste, + 250 grams of sugar and 50 grams of water = 550 grams of almond paste 0r 1.21 pounds (lb), 19 oz.

      Happy baking

      Reply
  10. Cedar says

    April 8, 2015 at 03:58

    Can this be used without adding the egg?

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      April 8, 2015 at 22:03

      Hello Cedar,
      You can leave out the egg and use the paste as is, but if you want to get the right, not too dry, consistency you need to add something to make the paste a bit more pliable and moist. You can use a bit of water and/or oil or use a (vegan) egg substitute.

      Reply
  11. Colin Fallon says

    December 3, 2013 at 11:09

    Not too wet and not too dry – that was a challenge! I think I may have gone too wet. Do you mix in the water and zest in a processor or by hand?

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      December 5, 2013 at 19:07

      Hi Colin,

      It is all done by hand. I actually like the paste to be a bit on the wet side, but you have to keep in mind that later on you are going to add egg to it, it gets a lovely creamy texture that way. It all depends on what you are going to use it for. Normally we are very exact in telling how much of what to add, but with this it seems to be different every time and I just look and feel until satisfied.

      Happy baking,

      Marieke

      Marieke

      Reply
      • Colin Fallon says

        December 10, 2013 at 14:49

        Thanks Marieke. I will just have to make lots of Stollen this Christmas so I can perfect my almond paste!

        Reply
  12. Villy says

    November 23, 2013 at 00:36

    Needs to sit in the fridge for 4-6 weeks before using , you can add a bit of lemon juice instead of water .also can add egg at beginning .

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      November 25, 2013 at 11:20

      Thank you Villy. Adding the egg at a later stage also works well because you can adjust the amount to fit the recipe you are making.

      Reply
  13. Tere says

    March 16, 2013 at 20:09

    Hi,
    Are you using raw or roasted almonds? I really appreciate this recipe and the fact that it adds the egg just before using the paste. Nice to know I can make this and have it on hand by using your recipe.
    Thanks,
    Tere

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      March 20, 2013 at 18:59

      Hello Tere,
      We use raw almonds, without the skins of course. Adding the egg really gives the paste a nice consistency (not too dry).

      Happy Baking!

      Marieke

      Reply
  14. Marijke says

    January 13, 2012 at 16:54

    where is the egg in the recipe?? I have an old
    Dutch recipe for almond filling which includes the same ingredients as mentioned and an egg

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      January 13, 2012 at 20:23

      Hello Marijke,
      You can read about the egg part in the second half of the recipe, because you only add it just before you are going to use the paste in a recipe. This way you can keep the actual paste for a long time.

      Reply
  15. EB in TX says

    December 24, 2011 at 16:17

    Love this stuff! A food processor makes quick work, and as you point out aging really allows the flavor to develop. You can never have too much amandelspijs on hand.

    Reply
    • Weekend Bakers says

      December 26, 2011 at 09:04

      I could not agree more! When I first made it, I could not believe how easy it was. Just good quality ingredients, and time will do the work for you…

      Happy Holidays and happy baking,

      Marieke

      Reply
  16. crackers says

    November 10, 2011 at 00:26

    I’m extremely inspired with your writing talents as well as with the structure for your weblog. Stay up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to peer a nice baking blog like this one nowadays..

    Reply

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