Orgeat
This post contains affiliate links: As an Amazon Associate I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Orgeat is an almond syrup typically used in tiki style drinks, most notably in the Mai tai.
You’ll need the following equipment:
Ingredients:
You can buy this in the store, but it’s never as good as homemade, and the ones that are are quite expensive. It’s really simple to make and you only need 2 ingredients aside from water. There are several ways to go about making orgeat, but this is by far the easiest and least time-consuming way.
I only use almonds, sugar and water to make my orgeat, you can add orange blossom water or rose water, as well as almond extract, but those ingredients are optional.
I like using sliced almonds, because I don’t need to soak them beforehand- if you are going for a really light colored orgeat, it is best to use whole almonds so that the skins are easier to remove. However, when you remove the skins, I find you lose a bit of flavor, and might need to add some almond extract.
First thing I do is to make a light simple syrup. Instead of the traditional 1:1 ratio, I will be adding 1 cup sugar to 1.5 cups water to a saucepan and heat over low heat.
In the meantime, I will blitz the almonds in a food processor. I’m looking for slightly larger particles than almond meal.
After the sugar has been dissolved, I will add the hot syrup to the pulverized almonds and let this steep for a couple of hours.
After the almonds and syrup marinated together for a bit, I like to add the mixture to a blender to extract out more flavor from the almonds.
I will blend all of it together. gradually increasing the speed, but since I still have to strain the orgeat, I don’t want the almond particles too small that the strainer won’t catch them.
I use a mesh strainer to strain the syrup into a measuring glass and gently move the mixture around so the syrup can flow through, but not pressing too much that I push the almond particles through. The result is a beautifully smooth and creamy orgeat.
Whatever you do, do not discard the almond meal - one of the perks of making your own orgeat is that it’s actually a 2 for 1 recipe - you get delicious almond syrup and some bonus marzipan! You can use marzipan for cakes, pies, galettes - the possibilities are endless.
Orgeat can be made with basically any nut - I’ve used this same method to make peanut orgeat, pistachio orgeat and pecan just to name a few. I also like using orgeat in baking, it makes a great glaze on things like pumpkin bread or banana bread or this earl grey tea loaf. Plus, the bonus marzipan by product makes this a zero-waste recipe.
