Candied Almonds

To blanch the almonds, simply place the skin-on, whole almonds into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for one minute, then drain and rinse with cold water. You'll be able to easily pop each nut out of its skin. Let the almonds dry completely overnight in a single layer.

To make the almonds, first preheat your oven to the lowest setting. Set up a silpat or sheet of parchment paper, along with a bit of vegetable oil and two forks. Place the nuts onto a baking sheet and into the oven - just enough to take any chill out of them. Do not toast. Next, place a large, stainless-steel fry pan over medium-high heat and cook the sugar and water to softball stage. Softball stage means cooking sugar to approximately 235° degrees Fahrenheit to 240°F (118° degrees Celsius –120°C). You can use a candy thermometer to test the temperature. Be careful, as this sugar is extremely hot and can badly burn you. Once the sugar has reached the proper temperature, add the almonds and stir. Turn the heat to medium-low. At first, they will look glossy. As you continually stir, the sugar will turn milky and start to crystallize. This technique is called sablage. The sugar will look sandy. Continue to cook the almonds. Slowly, but surely, the sugar will start to melt again. The almonds will gradually toast from the heat of the pan, and the sugar will start to caramelize. Be careful not to over toast the nuts or burn the sugar. As soon as all of the sugar has melted and caramelized, pour the nuts directly onto the silpat and immediately pull apart using oiled forks. They will be extremely hot. If you can't separate them quickly enough, you can also flatten them out and, once cool, just tap the ones that are glued together and they will fall apart. Let cool completely before transferring to a serving bowl.