Doces finos do Algarve

Step 1: Start with the egg-yolk cream. Boil 3 ½ oz sugar and 3 ½ tbsp water in a small pan for 3 minutes until it thickens slightly and bubbles cover the surface. Let it cool for 3 minutes.

Step 2: Whisk 4 egg yolks in a bowl and pour in the warm syrup in a thin stream, whisking. Pour back into the pan and stir over a very low heat for 5–6 minutes until it thickens like soft custard and reaches at least 167°F. Spread on a plate, cover and chill.

Step 3: For the almond paste, boil 14 oz sugar and ¾ cup water until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, about 250°F, when a drop in cold water forms a soft ball.

Step 4: Take the pan off the heat and tip in 14 oz ground almonds all at once. Stir hard with a wooden spoon, then return to a low heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until the paste dries a little and comes away from the sides in one mass.

Step 5: Turn the paste out onto a surface dusted with 2 ⅛ oz icing sugar and leave it until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Knead it briefly until smooth and pliable. A common mistake is working it while still hot, when it is oily and cracks; if it feels greasy, leave it longer.

Step 6: Take a piece the size of a large walnut (about 25 g), flatten it into a disc in your palm, put ½ teaspoon of the yolk cream in the middle and close the paste around it. Roll and pinch into a fruit shape: a pear, an orange (roll it over a fine grater for texture), a strawberry or a small fish.

Step 7: Leave the shapes on a tray for 2–3 hours to dry a little on the outside. Paint them with food colouring gels thinned with a drop of water, using a small brush, and push in a clove for a stalk if you like.

Step 8: Dry for another hour, then put each sweet in a paper case. They keep for a week in a cool, airtight box.