DigitalVinyl wrote:
>
> It is noticeable, in taste and texture. The almonds never get as fine
> as graham crackers(maybe your food processor will do better). Some
> will look like small sesame seeds in the crust. Really pulverize them
> in your blender/chopper. What I would suggest is subbing a smaller
> percentage as almonds. I do 50% almonds. First time, measure out a cup
> of graham crackers then scoop out back out two tablespoons (1/8 cup)
> and replace that with two tablespoons of almonds. That would be 12.5%
> almonds. If that gets by, next time try 1/4 almonds, 3/4 graham
> cracker.
>
> My neighbor really likes the nuttiness and so far the taste has been
> big with adults. I tried walnuts and pecans but I like almonds the
> best, walnuts the least.
>
> Put the almonds in a powerful chopper/food processor and just let it
> churn until they are as fine as you can make them. I have a small one
> that lets me do small amounts. Sometimes in a bigger unit you would
> have to process a larger amount or everything flies away from the
> blade or passes underneath. You will notice that they will clump
> slightly--similar to the way the crumbs look after butter is added. I
> think the fat of the nuts produces a wetter crumb. You can reduce the
> amount of butter you add slightly. I also add some cinnamon to the
> crust--my first reasoning there was to disguise some of the almond
> flavor. I was also making a pumpkin cheesecake so I thought the
> cinnamon crsut would compliment it. I also made eggnog whipped cream
> for it which was really good!
>
> DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)

Thanks! I should probably start with much less than half for my
daughter's sake. I do have almond flour (a bit gritty), so I
don't have to pulverize the almonds myself. (I also have pecan
and hazelnut flours and am thinking pecan flour might be even
better.) And cinnamon is a must in my GC crust anyway!
--
Jean B.