522446 Sun May 25 07:36:20 -0700 2008 6 31 Home Cooking 0 3719049 I've made this cake many times, but it was years ago. The recipe calls for sliced unblanched almonds, ground up very fine. I never had a problem. Yesterday I ground up a batch in my Cuisinart, but they came out in small pieces and not at all fine. They were almost like couscous. So I took another kind of sliced almonds (Trader Joe's skinless) and processed them and they, too, came out in these little pieces like couscous. Today I tried to grind some of each batch up in this little Tribest grinder and they turned into almond butter. What am I doing wrong? Obviously there's too much oil in the almonds to get them to a fine, almost powdery grind, but I've never had this problem, and I tried two different kinds. The recipe, by the way, is Rose Levy Berenbaum's Golden Grand Marnier Cake, from The Cake Bible. Sun May 25 07:36:21 -0700 2008 15994 Clarissa 1 3719171 I grind them with powdered sugar (the recipe I use also requires powdered sugar). But if you grind them with some of the sugar or flour from the rest of your recipe, they will grind better. There is too much oil in them to grind alone. Sun May 25 08:51:55 -0700 2008 3719049 162977 sarah galvin 2 3720347 Thanks. I added a little flour, and it worked great. Sun May 25 20:34:11 -0700 2008 3719171 15994 Clarissa 1 3720494 Clarissa, TJ's sells finely ground almonds. You can find a bag right near where the slivered almonds are. Some TJ locations also stock almond meal. Almond meal --> http://www6.netrition.com/bobs_red_mill_almond_flour_page.html Sun May 25 22:42:27 -0700 2008 3719049 10609 Cheese Boy 2 3722143 Thanks. I'm putting that on my next TJ's list. I used their slivered almonds and they were amazing. Mon May 26 17:35:49 -0700 2008 3720494 15994 Clarissa 1 3728905 I used to have a little (I think it was) Krups coffee grinder that I used for grinding nuts and spices. This worked well for grinding almonds. Wed May 28 17:14:38 -0700 2008 3719049 187855 hot breath 2 3733953 I have one of those too, and I've never used it. I ground these in a Tribest mini-blender, but I'll try my coffee grinder next time. Good idea. Fri May 30 07:39:10 -0700 2008 3728905 15994 Clarissa