Have you ever read a recipe and discarded it because it calls for blanched nuts (or fruit or vegetables) and you do not how to blanch? No more. It’s a simple process. To blanch nuts, fruits, or vegetables all you do it plunge the food in boiling water for just a few minutes, then immediately place it in ice water to stop the cooking.
That process allows you to remove the skin. Often nuts are sold with the skins already removed and labelled as blanched. To do it yourself, after the boiling and cooling, dry the nuts and rub them between layers of clean, dry towel. Rubbing removes the skins.
For fruits and vegetables, blanching is a way to quickly cook them. For example, green beans are delicious blanched and put in composed salads. They stay crispy, but the quick cooking takes the raw “edge” off of them.
Nut skins are often bitter and removing them gives baked goods a much cleaner, more refined taste. When you buy almond flour, check to make sure yours is made with blanched nuts. Some brands such as Bob’s Red Mill sell almond flour made from whole nuts (which Bob’s calls “natural, made from whole almonds”) and a lighter-colored version (specified as blanched nuts). The latter type is ground into flour without the dark almond skins.
Leave a Reply