Almond Paste Filling

Almond Paste Filling by Tony van Roon

Ingredients:
    1   large egg
    juice and rind from 1 lemon
1   pound blanced almonds (500 grams)
1   pound sugar (no icing sugar!) (500 grams)

Making the Almond Paste:
Grind the almonds in a meat grinder, coarsely. Mix with the sugar. Note: the sugar is the socalled "confectioners" kind, which is finer than regular sugar but definately no icing sugar.
Add the egg, the lemon juice and the lemon rind. Don't make the mixture too wet, dry is good but not so dry that it does not stick together. Just give the sugar time (about 10 minutes) to absorb the fluids and you're ok. Put the almond paste mixture a second time through the meat grinder but this time finely grinded. Do NOT substitute the sugar for Icing sugar it is just NOT the same! Roll the Almond Paste in several layers of plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least 8 weeks. Personally, and by family tradition, I make the Almond Paste the first week of October and start baking one week before Christmas and then store the breads in the freezer. However, if you forgot or don't have enough time to cure the Almond Paste you can add a bit of "Pure Almond Extract" just before putting the paste through the grinder a second time and then let the paste rest for 24 hours in the refriggerator.