Orgeat Syrup Recipes

Steps:

• Combine almonds with 11 ounces of water in a blender and blend briefly until uniformly but roughly chopped. Pour into a nonreactive bowl and add one liter of boiling water. Stir well and let stand for three hours. Line a sieve or chinois with overlapping layers of fine cheesecloth, arranging them in an X pattern and leaving a fair amount trailing over to grab hold of. Pour in the mixture and allow it to filter through, assisting with a wooden spoon if necessary. Fold up the ends of the cheesecloth carefully to trap the pulp in a bag and squeeze out the remaining liquid. (This is important, as the pulp retains a fair amount of emulsion.) Discard cheesecloth and pulp. Place emulsion mixture in a pan, add sugar and heat mildly through (140 degrees or less), stirring until sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Add orange-flower water and almond extract and funnel into a clean, capped bottle to refrigerate. Optionally you may add 2 or 3 ounces of vodka to the syrup, as a preservative.

Steps:

• Place the almonds in a bowl and cover with cold water and allowed them to soak for 30 minutes.
• Drain and discard this water, then crush the almonds using a rolling pin, or you could use a food processor to chop them to a fine grind.
• If you need to, you can add some of the water to the food processor.
• Transfer the crushed almonds to a large bowl and mix them with the water, let stand for one to two hours.
• Place a damp cloth or cheese cloth in a mesh filter, over another bowl, and strain the almond and water mixture - squeeze the cloth to extract all the liquid.
• Put the chopped almonds back into the almond water, let it stand for another hour and then strain again.
• Repeat a third time if you wish.
• This is will get all the oils out of the almonds.
• Note: To speed up the process you can gently heat the almond water to 50°C (125°F). If you do this, you can cut the soak times to about 15 minutes.
• Pour the strained liquid into a pan, discard the almond pulp, add the sugar and cook over gentle heat, stirring constantly.
• Remove from the heat when the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Allow to cool for 15 minutes and then add the brandy or vodka and the orange flower water.
• Store the orgeat in a clean glass bottle.
• Once the orgeat has cooled down it is ready to use.