Almond jelly is one of the most popular spoon desserts from my beautiful Sicily, although it is predominantly typical of the southeastern area, especially in the province of Ragusa, and precisely a specialty of the city of Modica. It is a kind of pudding whose name derives from its color and the fact that all the ingredients used for its preparation are white, symbolizing purity. There are many variations of almond jelly. The most well-known involves using cow’s milk instead of almond milk, known as biancomangiare. If you live like me in this wonderful land, you won’t miss the opportunity to buy almond paste directly from the best pastry shops, which we also call pasta lattante, that when dissolved in water magically turns into the famous almond milk. The proportions are 150 grams of almond paste to about 390 grams of water. Here in the recipe, I doubled them to make many small jellies to offer to friends; in the summer evenings, they are truly fantastic! And that’s it! Alternatively, you can follow my recipe to make the almond paste block directly at home. In short, a quick dessert you can make in a few simple steps. Plus, it’s gluten-free, what are you waiting for to make it?
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 6-8 servings
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
⚠ THIS RECIPE CONTAINS ONE OR MORE AFFILIATE LINKS. The products I recommend are the same ones I use in my recipes; purchasing them through my blog helps support me and my work, while it won’t cost you anything extra!
- 3 1/3 cups water
- 10.6 oz almond paste
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1.8 oz 70% dark chocolate
- 1/2 oz sliced almonds
- to taste ground cinnamon
Tools
- 2 Saucepans
- 1 Strainer
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Bundt Cake Pan
Preparation
After preparing the almond paste following the steps in this RECIPE or purchasing it, in a saucepan, slightly warm the water for 1′. Turn off the heat, coarsely break the almond paste with your hands, and dissolve it using 1 tablespoon. It is really important at this stage that there are no residues.
In another saucepan, with the heat off, place the cornstarch sifted. Gradually pour in the prepared almond milk and mix with a whisk.
Achieve complete dissolution, then add the cinnamon to the mixture and turn on the stove to moderate heat, stirring very carefully.
When your mixture reaches the boiling point, cook for a few more minutes until the jelly has thickened and reached a consistency of a firm and compact cream.
Turn off the heat and pour the jelly into the molds you prefer. I used both my silicone bundt cake mold.
And other mini cake molds. Let it cool completely at room temperature.
Once the jelly has completely cooled, transfer it to the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or until it reaches the appearance of a pudding. Then unmold it. You can enjoy it plain, or garnish it with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top and toasted almonds.
For my husband’s birthday, I wanted to go all out, garnishing it with dark chocolate melted in a bain-marie and toasted almonds.
And voilà…your almond jelly is ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appétit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Storage
👉 If stored in the fridge covered with food wrap, almond jelly can last up to three days.
Tips, Notes, Variations, and Suggestions
🟣You can enrich almond jelly with chopped pistachios or orange or lemon zest, or as I did, with some melted chocolate.
Can pre-packaged almond milk be used?
I do not recommend it for obvious flavor reasons, but it’s not entirely excluded, provided you add 1-2 more tablespoons of sugar during preparation.
