With Hari Raya Aidilfitri almost upon us, everybody is searching for tons of delightful, mouth-watering delectables! Anyone can buy Raya cookies, but making them yourself for a dear friend or family members is more memorable and personal. With that in mind, The Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia presents you with a French inspired Raya ready recipe of Almond Rocher Cookies.
Imagine rich dark chocolate coated almonds with a bite that gives you a good crunch and then melts in your mouth. It sounds decadent. These cookies will surely impress. So, get your hands dirty and be ready to astound your guests!
Almond Rocher Cookies
The portion below yields approximately 16 to 20 pieces. Double quantities to make more.
Ingredients:
- 150g almond sticks (almonds cut into sticks as opposed to thin slivers)
- 50g egg whites
- 50g icing sugar
- 50g rice crispy
- 150g dark chocolate (we recommend Callebaut 811NV 53.8%)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180 ̊C.
- Combine the almonds, egg whites and icing sugar together in a bowl. Mix well.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and pour the mixture onto it.
- Toast lightly in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes or until crispy.
- Once it is out of the oven, let it cool to room temperature.
- While the almonds are cooling down, melt your chocolate using the double boiler method. You can do this by putting the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Make sure your chocolate is in small pieces. Place your bowl over a pot of lightly simmering water and allow the chocolate to melt, stirring occasionally.
- Pour the melted dark chocolate and rice crispies over your cooled almonds and stir through.
- Divide the chocolate almond mixture with a spoon into separate desired amounts. Let the chocolate set. (Note: You can divide your almonds and place them on to wax paper to cool or divide them into small paper cups.
Some Cookie Tips:
- If you don’t like dark chocolate, go ahead and switch out the dark chocolate with good quality milk chocolate. You can even try making these cookies using white chocolate.
- To take your Almond Rocher cookies up another level, you can also opt to drizzle them with melted chocolate in a contrasting colour. Once your Almond Rocher Cookies have cooled and set, simply melt a small batch of chocolate; again using the double boiler method. Fill an icing bag with the melted chocolate, before snipping or poking a tiny hole at the tip. Drizzle the chocolate over the top of your cookies. Set it aside to cool and set.
Hands-on Learning at the Academy
If you’re looking for hands-on learning experience in baking and pastry, that is something The Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia offers.
Many of you may not be aware but tucked away in the suburbs of Petaling Jaya in a deceptively ordinary building, lie some of Malaysia’s (and the World’s) best pastry chefs and 600 kilograms of dark chocolate. Housing 15 professionally equipped kitchens and 16 highly skilled and carefully selected chefs, The Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia is a premier professional institution. It offers the unique opportunity to anyone wanting to learn the art of pastries and baking.
It was founded in 2010 by Chef Niklesh Sharma, a former Executive Pastry Chef of Renaissance Hotel Kuala Lumpur. From its inception, the Academy has believed that the pursuit of excellence in both pastry arts and culinary arts is life long journey. The faculty features multiple award-winning Chefs, and is a learning utopia for both new students, and experienced professionals alike.
For more information, check out our website. From time to time we also update our Facebook page with workshops and courses on offer.
