How to make empiñonadas at home

Empiñonadas are one of the most traditional sweets in our recipe book. This wonderful delicacy can resurrect the dead, perhaps this is one of the reasons why it is consumed at this time of the year.

A little history of Las Empiñonadas

Evidently, it is totally false that empiñonadas are eaten at Easter or on All Souls’ Day because they are capable of raising the dead. What does seem to be true is that, its high calorie index, although it does not raise the dead, it is perfect to counteract the vigil seasons for years.

On the other hand, pine nuts, the main ingredient of empiñonadas, are an autumn and winter fruit, so it seems natural that they were traditionally made when the pantries were full of them.

As with many traditional sweets, its origin seems to come from the time of Arab domination in the Iberian Peninsula. The 800 years that the Arabs were here gave rise to many recipes that have been perpetuated over time and adapted to the tastes and products of each period in the history of our country.

Nowadays, empiñonadas are also known as Panellets, and are very popular in regions such as Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia and the Balearic Islands.

Its ingredients include sugar, ground almonds, egg, lemon zest and, of course, lots of pine nuts. This makes it a tremendously popular sweet, although with a higher price. If you want to know curious things about pine nuts, be sure to read this article.

Its recipe is laborious, but we have provided it so that you can make it at home. Although, if you don’t feel like working in the kitchen, but you want to try some of the best empiñonadas in the capital, we invite you to visit our store in the center of Madrid, or our online store.

Recipe for empiñonadas

Ingredients

• 300 gr ground almonds
• 300 gr of powdered sugar
• 200 gr of pine nuts
• 1 Eggs
• Lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons of water

Prepared by

• Grate the lemon well washed.
• Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Beat the egg whites until stiff and reserve the yolk for later.
• In a bowl put the ground almonds, the powdered sugar, the lemon zest and the water. Mix until a homogeneous paste is formed. Add the egg white and stir the dough gently to integrate all the ingredients. Put it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Meanwhile, place the pine nuts on a tray. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and make small balls the size of walnuts, and roll them in the pine nuts, without exerting too much pressure.
• On a baking sheet, place baking paper and place the balls, separated from each other because they will grow a little.
• Beat the reserved egg yolk and paint the balls. Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Remove and let cool.

In Casa Mira you can find great empiñonadas made with pine nuts of national origin and flambéed marzipan.

Don’t miss them!