Recipe - Amigthalota (Almond Pears)

3 cup Ground almonds
One half cup Icing sugar; sifted
One fourth cup Egg whites (One fourth cup = 2 whites
One half teaspoon Grated lemon rind, optional
2 dr Almond essence
Whole cloves
Additional icing sugar
Rose or orange flower water
(optional)

Makes: 30 Cooking time: 20 minutes Oven temperature: 160 C (325 F)

Blend ground almonds with icing sugar measured after sifting. Add lightly
beaten egg whites with lemon rind if used and almond essence. Mix to a
firm dough with hands. Clean hands and rub with a little butter to prevent
dough sticking while shaping. Break off small pieces of dough the size of
a walnut and form into pear shapes. Insert a whole clove in the top of
each to resemble a stem and place upright on a buttered and floured baking
sheet.

Bake in a moderately slow oven for 20 minutes, covering with brown paper if
tops begin to brown. Sift 2 cups icing sugar into a bowl and dip hot
Amigthalota into it. If desired, a little rose or orange flower water may
be brushed onto Amigthalota before dipping into icing sugar. Place on a
wire rack to cool.

Sift remaining sugar from bowl into base of a container and arrange cooled
Almond Pears upright in a single layer. Sift more sugar thickly over tops
and sides, seal and store for a day or two before using.

From: "The Complete Middle East Cookbook" by Tess Mallos
ISBN: 1 86302 069 1

Typed for you by Karen Mintzias
Sent to me by Bill wight@odc.net