Snow-white truffles "mandarinato"

A cute and delicious little sweet with the fresh aroma of the mandarines which will be a great treat to your guests or a very nice gift for Christmas or any other occasion. Mandarines are very popular in Greece and one of the most bought Winter time fruit. Try to get unwaxed mandarines so to get most of the flavour and the aroma

Recipe from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for about 25 pieces):
10 large mandarines (unwaxed)
600gr. unsalted almonds, skin on
600gr. of granulated sugar
1 tea-cup of icing sugar
1/2-1 tsp of ground cloves or nutmeg (optional)
a few whole cloves

Method:
Blanch the almonds for a few minutes, take the skin off and dry them out in a warm oven. *** Make sure they are completely dry before you continue.

Transfer the almonds into a blender, add a little bit of granulated sugar and grind into a powder. *** Don't neglect to use this small extra amount of sugar otherwise you will end up with an almond paste.

Peel the mandarines and boil the peel until they become soft. When ready, put in a blender and whizz until they become a pulp.

Put the pulp in a saucepan, add the sugar, the ground spice (if used) and the almonds and stir constantly with a wooden spoon on medium-low heat. When the mixture comes together and forms a ball that doesn't stick on the sides of the saucepan take off the heat. Leave on the side for a few minutes to cool down so to be able to handle it.

Taking small amounts of the mixture in your hands form small size balls and leave on a tray. Spread the icing sugar on a baking sheet and roll each truffle on it making sure it is fully covered by the sugar on all sides. Press the cloves on the top of each truffle. Leave on trays in one layer and let them dry.

You can serve right away or store in an airtight container or sterilized jar for up to 2 weeks.