This is a very fine confection. Take three quarters of a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and one quarter of a pound of shelled bitter almonds. Blanch them by scalding them in boiling water. Then throw them into cold water, and take them out and wipe them. Cut them into small pieces (but do not pound them,) and mix them well together.
Take a pound of loaf-sugar broken small, and mix it with half a pint of cold water, and an ounce of isinglass melted in a very little hot water. Boil the sugar, and skim it well. When it is quite clear, throw in your almonds, having first squeezed over them the juice of two lemons. Stir the almonds well through the sugar; and as soon as they are properly mixed with it, take the kettle off the fire.
Have ready a mould or a square tin pan well greased with sweet-oil. Put your mixture into it, a little at a time; dispersing the almonds equally through the sugar, before it has time to get cold. But if it does chill before the almonds are well mixed in it, set it again over the fire to melt. Turn it frequently in the mould, to prevent its sticking. When it has become a hard cake, set the mould for a moment in warm water, and turn out the nougat.
In stirring it, you had better use a wooden spoon.
Take half a pound of shelled bitter almonds, and a pound and a half of shelled sweet almonds. Blanch them, and pound them in a mortar one or two at a time, pouring in frequently a little rose-water, which will preserve their whiteness and prevent them from being oily and heavy. Pound them to a fine smooth paste, and then mix them with a pound and a half of loaf-sugar finely powdered.
Put the mixture again into the mortar, a little at a time, and pound it awhile that the sugar and almonds may be thoroughly incorporated; adding still a little rose-water.
When done, put it away in small covered pots or glasses, and it will keep several months in a cool dry place. It makes a very fine drink.
When you want to use it, put a small piece into a tumbler of cold water, and stir it till dissolved.
To filter cordials, cover the bottom of a sieve with clean blotting paper. Pour the liquor into it (having set a vessel underneath to receive it), and let it drip through the paper and through the sieve. Renew the paper frequently, and fasten it down with pins.