Martorana Fruit has its origins in Palermo when the nuns of the Martorana Convent invented this delicious almond paste around the year 1200 to welcome the visiting Pope.
If you want to enjoy this mouthwatering treat at its best I suggest you prepare it yourself. The fact is that almonds are quite expensive so, what normally happens, is that the confectioners use more sugar than almonds and the result is too sweet.
The procedure is really simple, the difficult part is the shaping of the fruits. You can either do it with your hands or, as I did, you can order the moulds online.
This is my recipe, if you want you can add some almond flavour or some vanilla estract. I prefer not to use chemical ingredients and to leave a natural and delicate almond taste.
Ingredients for about 20 fruits:
– 500gr grounded almonds
– 450gr icing sugar
– 50gr glucose syrup
– 50gr water
– edible colours and brushes
– edible alcohol
Put the ground almonds, the sugar, the glucose, the water and the flavours in a bowl and mix well. When the paste is smooth and consistent… you’re done!
Now you only have to shape it. As I was saying, you can do it with your hands or you can use moulds. The best way is to put some cling film over the mould, then press a piece of paste into it. It will not stick and will come out very easily.
Now that your fruit is ready, cover with a clean cloth and let it rest for 24 hours.
Now take your edible colours and dilute with edible alcohol. Do not use water to dilute because it will get moldy after a while. Unleash your fantasy and decorate your fruit! After every layer of colour let it dry well.
Now that the fruit is ready you can glaze it with gum arabic (or acacia gum) or you can buy something specific in specialized shops.
To complete the process it takes about 4 days, but it’s really worth and if you do it together with friends or kids is great fun too!
Once they are finished keep them in a box in the fridge for 3 days. Then store them in your cupboard up to 6 months!
