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Amandine sticks are little almond petit four sticks: a soft, marzipan-like paste of ground almonds, butter, sugar and egg white, piped out through a star tube and baked until the ridges turn golden. They stay chewy and moist in the middle with a lightly crisp, caramelised outside, and the rum, almond and vanilla flavourings give them a warm, bakery-shop aroma.

This is the kind of small baked piece that fills out a petit four platter or sits beside a coffee, and the same paste can be piped into rosettes, shells or short batons. Once cooled, the ends are often dipped in dark chocolate, which keeps them looking neat and makes them easier to handle on a plate of assorted pastries.

Ingredients

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Weight Per Unit: 132
Number of Units: 14
Unit Size: 125 g batch of piped petit four sticks
WEIGHT
(grams) 		ALTERNATIVE METRIC INGREDIENT IMAGE CONDITION
A 900 2 pounds Almond Meal Almond meal, almond flour or ground almond is made from ground sweet almonds. Almond flour is usually made with blanched almonds (no skin), whereas almond meal can be made both with whole or blanched almonds. The consistency is more like corn meal than wheat flour.

It is used in pastry and confectionery – in the manufacture of almond macarons and other sweet pastries, in cake and pie filling, such as Sachertorte and is one of the two main ingredients of marzipan and almond paste. In France, almond meal is an important ingredient in frangipane, the filling of traditional galette des Rois cake.

Almond meal has recently become important in baking items for those on low carbohydrate diets. It adds moistness and a rich nutty taste to baked goods. Items baked with almond meal tend to be calorie-dense.
finely ground
B 500 17.6 ounces Butter Butter is a solid dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk, to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water.
unsalted 		room temperature
C 250 8.8 ounces Sugar Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
D 125 4.2 Egg Whites Egg White Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks. The primary natural purpose of egg white is to protect the yolk and provide additional nutrition for the growth of the embryo (when fertilized). Egg white consists primarily of about 90% water into which is dissolved 10% proteins (including albumins, mucoproteins, and globulins). Unlike the yolk, which is high in lipids (fats), egg white contains almost no fat, and carbohydrate content is less than 1%. Egg whites contain just over 50% of the protein in the egg. Egg white has many uses in food (e.g. mousse) and also many other uses (e.g. in the preparation of vaccines such as those for influenza). room temperature
E 5 Cream of Tartar

Cream of tartar, also known as potassium bitartrate or potassium hydrogen tartrate, is a byproduct of winemaking. It is known as cream of tartar in context with cooking. It is the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid (a carboxylic acid).


In food, cream of tartar is used for:

  • Stabilizing egg whites, increasing their heat tolerance and volume
  • Stabilizing whipped cream, maintaining its texture and volume
  • Anti-caking and thickening
  • Preventing sugar syrups from crystallizing
  • Reducing discoloration of boiled vegetables


Additionally it is used as a component of:

  • Baking powder, as an acid ingredient to activate baking soda
  • Sodium-free salt substitutes, in combination with potassium chloride

A similar acid salt, sodium acid pyrophosphate, can be confused with cream of tartar because of their common function as a component of baking powder.
F 2 Salt Common salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent; the open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt is essential for animal life, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous of food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation.
G 50 1.7 fluid_ounces Rum
H 5 1 teaspoon Almond Essence Almond essence is a concentrated flavouring made from bitter almond oil or its synthetic equivalent, used a few drops at a time to lift the marzipan-like flavour of almond bakes. It is very strong, so measure it carefully.
I 10 2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence Vanilla Extract is made with 100% pure vanilla beans. With a sweet, syrupy consistency, this Vanilla is ideal for use in icings, drinks and whipped cream as well as classic baking recipes. Vanilla Essence is commercially manufactured by chemicals and is more of a watery consistency as opposed to vanilla extract which is thicker and a lot fuller and richer in flavour. You can replace one with the other but use 50% more of essence. For example, for 1 teaspoon of extract, use 1.5 teaspoons of essence.
1847

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Method

STEP ACTION DETAIL CONDITION
1 Pre-heat Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (355°F) and line two or three flat baking trays with baking paper. Trays flat so the sticks bake evenly
2 Prepare Fit a piping bag with a medium star tube, about 10 mm across.
3 Cream Cream B and C (butter and caster sugar) together in a mixing bowl. Pale and light, sugar no longer gritty
4 Add Add D, E and F (egg white, cream of tartar and salt) a little at a time, beating well between each addition. Smooth and glossy, not split
5 Flavour Mix in G, H and I (rum, almond essence and vanilla essence). Evenly blended
6 Fold Add A (almond meal) in two or three lots and mix on low speed only until it comes together into a soft paste. Soft enough to pipe but holding its shape; do not overwork
7 Pipe Pipe fingers about 6 cm long onto the lined trays, leaving a couple of centimetres between them. Ridges from the star tube standing clearly
8 Rest Leave the piped sticks uncovered at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before baking. Surface just dry to a light touch
9 Bake Bake at 180°C (355°F) for about 12 to 15 minutes. Ridges and edges golden, centres still soft
10 Cool Leave the sticks on the tray for 5 minutes, then lift them on the paper onto a rack to cool completely. Firm enough to lift without breaking
11 Finish If you like, dip one or both ends of each cooled stick into tempered dark chocolate and set them on paper to firm. Chocolate set with a clean line

Important Notes

The full batch makes about 1,847 g of almond paste, roughly 14 portions of 125 g, which is a large plate of petit four sticks; halve everything if you want a smaller amount. The paste can be made ahead, wrapped and kept in the fridge for a few days — bring it back to room temperature before piping or it will be too stiff for the bag. Baked sticks keep their chew for about a week in an airtight container; freeze the unbaked piped sticks on the tray if you want to bake them fresh later. Because they are made almost entirely of almonds, they colour quickly, so watch the last few minutes of baking.

Tools & Arrangements

Electric mixer with paddle, mixing bowls, scales, spatula, piping bag with a 10 mm star tube, two or three flat baking trays, baking paper, cooling rack, and a small bowl for chocolate if dipping the ends.

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