The recipe
A last-minute sweet treat for Easter. The lemon zest and toasted almonds lend an Italian note. These will keep for a fortnight in a biscuit tin (that is, if they’re not all eaten today).
Set the oven at 175C/gas mark 3-4. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
Lightly toast 100g of flaked almonds in a shallow pan until pale gold in colour, then set aside. Break 250g of marzipan into large pieces and put them in the bowl of a food processor with the almonds, then process briefly to large crumbs.
Add 200g of caster sugar, then finely grate the zest of a lemon and add to the bowl. Process for a few seconds to combine. Stir in 35g of plain flour.
In a separate, medium-sized bowl, beat 75ml of egg whites (approximately 2 eggs) until almost stiff, then fold in the crumb mixture, until just combined.
Take 1 heaped tbsp of the mixture, roll it into a ball, then place it on the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies have spread. They should look slightly under-done. Remove from the oven and leave them for 10 minutes to settle before transferring them carefully to a cooling rack with a palette knife.
Makes about 20. Ready in 45 minutes
The biscuits are fragile directly after baking. Let them rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before sliding a palette knife under them and lifting them on to a cooling rack.
Eaten an hour or so after baking, these are soft, crumbly and cookie-like; a few hours later and they become crisp and biscuity – just the sort of thing to serve with coffee or a glass of sweet golden wine. (Dunking is a thoroughly good thing here.)
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