Amygdalota

Greek island almond macaroons, soft and chewy, scented with rose water and buried in icing sugar

Origin: Hydra and the Cyclades, Greece

From the journey of Almond.

Amygdalota are the almond macaroons of the Greek islands, flourless little sweets of ground almond, sugar, and egg white that are soft and faintly chewy within and dusted so thickly in icing sugar that they arrive at the table like snowballs. They are above all a sweet of celebration and hospitality, made for weddings, christenings, and name days on Hydra, Andros, Sifnos, and across the Cyclades, where the almond has grown since antiquity and where the wedding feast still demands trays of amygdalota offered to every guest. The almond reached Greece in the classical age, and the Greeks have pounded it with honey and sugar into sweets ever since; amygdalota are the modern heirs of that ancient confectionery. The recipe is disarmingly simple (ground almond, sugar, egg white, and a perfume of rose water), and its character lies in restraint: the macaroons are baked only until barely set, so that they keep a moist, marzipan-like heart rather than drying to a crisp. Many islands shape them into little pears, each finished with a clove for the stalk, or into crescents and domes. Unlike the brittle French macaron, the amygdalota is rustic and generous, a homemade sweet rather than a confectioner's showpiece, and it carries the unmistakable Greek pairing of almond and rose water that runs back through the Byzantine and the ancient kitchen alike.

Ingredients

Macaroons

300 g ground almonds
200 g caster sugar
2 egg whites
1.5 tbsp rose water
0.5 tsp almond extract (optional, for a deeper almond note)

To finish

whole cloves, for the stems (optional)
100 g icing sugar, to coat

Method

Mix the ground almonds and caster sugar in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until just frothy (not stiff), then stir in the rose water and the optional almond extract.
Pour the egg whites into the almond mixture and work to a soft, cohesive paste. It should hold together and be mouldable but not wet.
Shape into small ovals or pears, about 25g each. For the classic island look, taper one end into a pear and press a whole clove into the top as a stalk.
Set the shaped macaroons on a lined baking tray, spaced a little apart. Bake at 160°C (fan) for 12 to 15 minutes, until set and only just tinged with gold at the edges. They must stay pale and soft inside.
Cool for a few minutes on the tray, then, while still slightly warm, roll each generously in icing sugar until thickly coated. Cool completely and re-dust before serving.

Notes

Amygdalota keep for up to ten days in an airtight tin and stay moist. Some islands dip the baked macaroons briefly in rose-water syrup before rolling in icing sugar, for a wetter, sweeter sweet. Orange-flower water can replace the rose water for a different but equally traditional perfume.

The Gastrographer

Name: Amygdalota
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: Greece
Ingredients: 300 g ground almonds; 200 g caster sugar; 2 egg whites; 1.5 tbsp rose water; 0.5 tsp almond extract (optional, for a deeper almond note); whole cloves, for the stems (optional); 100 g icing sugar, to coat

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control