Chinese Almond Candy 杏仁酥糖

This traditional Chinese candy is pretty easy to make. Unlike the peanut candy or peanut brittles, which takes much longer as you have to cook the peanuts during the process, this recipe is much much quicker since the almonds are toasted before use. I like the chewiness of these almond squares, and added coconut makes the flavor more interesting. If you use a smaller tray, then each candy piece is thicker and thus chewier.

Chinese Almond Candy 杏仁酥糖 (makes 1 medium tray, about 70 bite size squares)

Ingredients:
2 lbs sliced almonds
4 tbsps sesame seeds
4 tbsps finely grated desiccated coconut

Syrup:
4 tbsps maltose 麥芽糖
6 tbsps brown sugar
3 tbsps sugar
3 tbsps water
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Lined a medium tray with parchment paper. Place almond slices in large baking pan in a even layer, toast in 300F oven until golden brown. Check and stir every 3-4 minutes. Remove from the oven.
2. While almond is toasting in the oven, toast sesame seeds in a dry clean frying pan at medium low heat, stirring constantly until lightly brown. Remove from heat. Do the same for desiccated grated coconut. Keep almonds, sesame seeds and grated coconut in the oven at the lowest temperature to keep warm.
3. Combine all syrup ingredients in a wok. Cook at medium heat. Do not stir until the all sugars dissolve. Cook for a few minutes until the bubbles become small. To check if it’s done, drop a drop of syrup into a bowl of room temperature water– if it shapes up and soft to the touch then it’s ready. Turn the heat to lowest setting, add in almond, sesame seeds and grated coconut. Gently toss (to minimize breakage to almond slices) with two spatulas until all coated well with syrup.
4. Quickly transfer the almond mixture onto the lined tray (with a kitchen towel at the bottom of the tray– see note below). The mixture should be just warm to touch so you can use your hand to spread out evenly and press lightly (which I found is much faster than using spatulas). Then use a rolling pin to roll over the surface to ensure all areas are pressed evenly.
5. While the candy slab is still a little warm, quickly cut into desired sizes. The cutting has to be done before the candy hardens or else the candy will crumble. Cool slightly then store in air tight container.

Regina’s Note:

• Almond, sesame seeds and grated coconut can be toasted in advance, then combine and keep warm in the oven until the syrup is ready. The reason for the warm ingredients is that the syrup hardens very easily especially when it comes in contact with cold or cool things, which will makes even coating more difficult.

• Kitchen towel at the bottom of the tray: This is to served as insulation, keep the coldness of the kitchen counter from penetrating the metal tray while you load up the almond mixture. It gives you more time to spread, shape and cut the candy before it hardens.

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