Place almonds in a bowl or jar and cover with boiling water. Leave on the counter for 30 minutes. (See notes for another option.)
Dump the soaking water and rinse soaked almond. Remove the skins by squeezing one at a time from the fatter end between your index finger and thumb. The skins will just pop off. It is kind of fun actually.
Rinse the peeled almonds again, then add to your blender along with water, dates (remove any seeds), cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, and a pinch of salt.
Blend on high for 1 minute or more, depending on how high-powered your blender is. A high speed blender on high speed will only take a minute. The almonds should be ground up very fine.
The next step is to strain the almonds through a nut bag, fine mesh strainer, or fine cheesecloth. Squeeze and squish until all the liquid is extracted. The almond meal that’s left can be discarded, or used for other recipes (see notes).
Notes
Soaking almonds
Soaking in boiling water is the fastest and possible easiest method. You can skip the boiling water and use cold water with a minimum of 2 hours, and up to 12 hours soaking time. If you don’t have time to blend the almond after 12 hours (which has happened to me), replace the water and keep soaking almonds in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Dates
If your dates are not the soft medjool dates, soak them for 20 minutes first before blending.
Leftover almond pulp
I typically compost the almond pulp. I figure that I’ve extracted all the good stuff out of the almonds, and what is left is mainly just the fiber. For ideas on how to use up leftover almond pulp, check this post from Minimilist Baker.