"Martorana fruit"

INGREDIENTS

For 4 servings:
2 kg. sugar
500 g. almonds
400 g. glucose
flour.

Scald the almonds in boiling water, peel them. Crush the almonds, adding a spoonful of sugar at a time (until arriving at 500 gr). Sieve this sugared powder and pour it in a bowl with 300 gr of glucose. In a pan bring to the boil the remaining sugar with the remaining glucose. Then pour it, slowlY, on the almonds, stirring accurately. Pour the mixture on a marble table and let it cool. Wet the water paste and sieve it several time. Model some fruit by choice: apple, pears, plums, chestnuts, and arrange them on a layer of flour to let tem dry for a few days. Colour the fruits with vegetable colours, let them dry (few more days) and polish tem with gum Arabic melted in a very little water. Arrange them on a plate or on a small basket and decorate with many-coloured strips of paper.