Almond Rocher - Nutty Treats #4

As some of you knew, I won a baking competition recently and one of the gifts was a course voucher at Academy of Pastry Arts. At first, I thought, the voucher will be wasted as I need to travel to KL again to attend it, and time plus distance didn't seem to permit.

Things happened with some twists and turns... I managed to grab a course on a weekend where we happen to be in KL for a wedding. And it was the right course, chocolate class. Of all the things that I can learn by myself, this is the one thing that I truly dare not attempt, Chocolate Tempering. It was an enjoyable 2-day course and I learnt the most important thing of all, how to temper chocolate. Besides that, I took home with me 6 delicious recipes, plus a big box of handmade chocolates!

FYI, that was REAL chocolate. Not the same like the budget friendly compound chocolate that I normally use that can be melted and used as I like it. Couverture chocolate is a bit temperamental to use, but absolutely delicious to eat.

I knew that one day I will want to make them again since they were delicious! But since this recipe came from a baking school, it's not very nice to publish their recipes without permission, as this is their coursework. Just to be safe, I asked the Chef whether I could share them on my blog, and he said, "Go ahead. What is important are not the recipes, but the skills. People come here and pay to learn the skill, not buy recipes."

So, here is a beautiful recipe from Academy of Pastry Arts, but.... so so sorry, I used compound chocolate as I can't get couverture here.

Almond Rocher
Source: Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia
Makes: 60pcs

300gm slivered almonds
100gm rice crispies
100gm egg white
100gm icing sugar
300gm dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 150(fan)/170C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper
2. Mix almonds with rice bubbles, set aside.
3. Mix sugar with egg white. Pour in the almonds and rice bubble and toss to combine.
4. Pour this mixture onto tray and bake for 15 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and gently stir it and bake again for another 10 minutes. Repeat this step. (total baking time : 15+10+10). Or bake it until crispy
6. Let the crispy almonds cool down and break them into small pieces with a rolling pin.(just roll the almonds with the pin)
7. Meanwhile, melt dark chocolate.
8. Mix the almond bits with the chocolate.
9. Spoon the rocher mixture into mini paper cups. Set it aside to harden (preferably in an air cond room)

I almost wanted to stop after baking them to a crisp and just eat like that cos it's soooooooooooo delicious! The rice crispies gives it a beautiful crunch and also reduces the 'sharpness' of the slivered almonds.