Toot

Persian almond-paste mulberries, moulded by hand, perfumed with rose water and cardamom and rolled in sugar

Origin: Isfahan, Persia (Iran)

From the journey of Almond.

Toot are amongst the most refined of all the sweets of the Persian table, little marzipan mulberries shaped, sugared, and tipped with a slender stem of pistachio so that they mimic the white mulberry, the toot, after which they are named. They belong above all to Nowruz, the Persian New Year at the spring equinox, when the haft-sin table is laid with sweets and dried fruits, and to the gift trays carried between households at every celebration. To make them well is a point of pride; the finest are pale, smooth, and barely sweet, the almond allowed to speak through the perfume of rose water and cardamom. The almond, badam, is one of the oldest nuts of the Persian orchard, and the Persian confectioner treats it with great delicacy. The blanched kernels are ground fine and bound with sugar and rose water into a pliable paste, scented with the cardamom that runs through so much of the Persian sweet kitchen. Each mulberry is rolled by hand to its tapering shape, dipped in sugar to give the frosted look of the real fruit, and finished with its green pistachio stalk. The result is a sweet that is as much an ornament of the table as a confection to be eaten. Like the noghl, the sugared almond showered over a Persian bride and groom, toot carry the almond's old association with marriage, fertility, and good fortune, and no Nowruz tray is complete without them.

Ingredients

Almond paste

250 g blanched almonds, very finely ground
200 g icing sugar, sifted
2.5 tbsp rose water, plus a little more if needed
0.5 tsp ground cardamom

To finish

100 g caster sugar, to coat
30 slivers of pistachio, for the stems

Method

Combine the ground almonds, icing sugar, and ground cardamom in a bowl. Add the rose water a little at a time, working the mixture with your hands until it comes together into a smooth, firm, pliable paste that holds its shape.
Cover the paste and rest for an hour at room temperature so the almond absorbs the moisture evenly.
Pinch off pieces of about 12g and roll each between your palms into a small oval, then taper one end to the elongated, slightly pointed shape of a mulberry.
Roll each mulberry in caster sugar until evenly frosted, pressing gently so the sugar clings.
Push a small sliver of pistachio into the broad end of each to form the stem. Arrange on a serving tray.

Notes

Toot keep for up to two weeks in an airtight container in a cool place. The paste can be tinted very pale green or rose if you wish, but the traditional Isfahani toot are left white. The same almond paste, untinted and unmoulded, is the basis of Persian marzipan sweets of every shape.

The Gastrographer

Name: Toot
Prep time: 40 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 30
Cuisine: Persia
Ingredients: 250 g blanched almonds, very finely ground; 200 g icing sugar, sifted; 2.5 tbsp rose water, plus a little more if needed; 0.5 tsp ground cardamom; 100 g caster sugar, to coat; 30 slivers of pistachio, for the stems

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control