Ingredients for about 16 biscuits
Egg whites – 2
Plain flour – 15g
Baking powder – 1/3 teaspoon
Icing sugar – 125g
Ground almonds – 175g
Almond extract – 3 drops
Preheat the oven to 220oC /gas mark 7. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff. In another bowl, sieve the flour and baking powder together then fold into the egg whites. Fold in the icing sugar, the ground almonds and the almond extract to make a sticky paste.
Dust a clean dry surface with a bit of extra icing sugar. Dollop a teaspoon of paste onto the surface and roll it in the sugar to make an oblong shape. It helps if you put some extra icing sugar in your hand to stop the mixture sticking to you. Repeat this for every biscuit.
Put the biscuits on a very well greased baking tray (or the marvellous Bake-O-Glide which nothing sticks to) and bake for 10–12 minutes or until they are just going golden and are slightly cracked. They still want to be soft inside so take care not to overcook them. Take them out and when they’ve cooled a bit, sprinkle some more icing sugar over the top.
Oh, these sound lovely and light–and, obviously, perfect for an afternoon tea party.