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Spanish · Valencia

Arnadí: Valencian pumpkin and almond sweet

An ancient Valencian sweet — a preparation of roasted pumpkin or sweet potato combined with ground almonds, sugar, and eggs, shaped into cones or small mounds and baked until just set and lightly caramelised on the surface. Arnadí is considered one of the oldest Valencian confections, with clear Moorish antecedents — the combination of pumpkin, almonds, and sweet spices (cinnamon, lemon) is characteristic of the Arab-Andalusian kitchen. The texture is dense and moist — closer to a frangipane filling than a cake — and the flavour is intensely nutty with a background sweetness from the roasted pumpkin or sweet potato.

‹Swipe for the next dish›
ServesAbout 10–12 cones
Total2 hours (including draining)
Sourced1of 7 in BC
Cook
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I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

1 kg
pumpkin or sweet potato
unpeeled, for roasting
Origin · FranceLekker · Vancouver →
250 g
whole blanched almonds
freshly ground
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
caster sugar
Your own market
2
eggs
lightly beaten
Your own market
1 tsp
ground cinnamon
Your own market
1
lemon
zest only, finely grated
Your own market
saffron strands
a few strands, optional
Not yet stocked in British Columbia

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II

The Method

1
Heat the oven to 175 °C. Roast the pumpkin or sweet potato whole, or in large pieces, until entirely soft throughout — a skewer should meet no resistance anywhere in the flesh. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle.
2
Scoop the flesh from the skin and pass it through a sieve into a bowl. Transfer the sieved purée to a clean sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain for a minimum of one hour. This is where the dish lives or dies: insufficient draining leaves the mixture too wet to hold its shape in the oven, and the cones will not set.
3
Grind the whole blanched almonds to a fine meal in a food processor or by hand. Combine the drained pumpkin or sweet potato with the ground almonds, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, lemon zest, and saffron strands if using. Mix until fully combined. The paste should be thick and hold a shape when pressed — not slack or pourable.
4
Line a baking sheet with parchment. With damp hands, shape the mixture into cones approximately the size of a small pear. Set them upright or slightly inclined on the sheet, ensuring each cone holds its form without slumping.
5
Bake at 175 °C for 20–25 minutes. The arnadí is ready when the surface is lightly caramelised and just firm to a light press at the widest point — the interior remains dense and moist. The shape must be fully held; a collapsing cone indicates under-baking.
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Saffron-scented sweet potato arnadí, made with freshly skinned and hand-ground Marcona almonds, shaped into precise cones and baked to a deep amber glaze — closest to the Moorish original.
02
Estate — Pumpkin arnadí with freshly ground whole blanched almonds, lemon zest, and cinnamon; properly drained and accurately baked so the cone holds its shape with a lightly caramelised crust.
03
Market — Either base vegetable with good-quality whole almonds ground to order; shape and texture correct, though saffron is omitted.
04
House — Pre-ground almond flour used for convenience; flavour noticeably flatter, and the result leans toward a generic almond cake rather than the characteristically dense, nutty Valencian confection.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. The drained purée shows no pooling of liquid in the sieve and the paste holds a clean shape when scooped.
◇Sight. The surface of each cone is lightly and evenly caramelised, with no raw-looking patches.
◇Touch. A light press at the widest point of the cone meets gentle resistance — the exterior is set, the interior remains dense and moist, not liquid.
◇Sight. The cones stand upright on the tray without slumping or cracking at the base — the structure is fully held.
◇Where it lives or dies. The pumpkin or sweet potato flesh must drain in a sieve for at least one hour: any excess moisture left in the purée will prevent the arnadí from setting and cause the cones to collapse in the oven.
Pillar V
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
Caol Ila 12 Year Old Single Malt
Caol Ila Distillery · Islay
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

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The whole pairing
Pillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Lekker
Vancouver · pumpkin or sweet potato
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