Have you ever seen a prettier little biscuit? These classy teatime treats look just like miniature iced buns! They're delightfully chewy and the sourness of the dried cherry on top nicely offsets the sweetness of biscuit.
We reckon that these would make a perfect festive gift if you wrapped a batch of 6 in cellophane tied with a cherry red bow!
Original Recipe: 'Almond Biscuits For Tea or Dessert' (Book 3, 1914)
Speed: 40 mins | Makes: About 28
INGREDIENTS
454g ground almonds
454g caster sugar
1 large egg white (or more to make the mixture into a paste)
1/3 cup of icing sugar
Dried cherries
METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan (350°F/Gas Mark 4).
2. Combine the ground almonds, sugar and egg white in a bowl and make into a paste.
3. Using a large, round nozzle, pipe into rounds 'or any shapes desired' onto dampened baking paper. Dampening the baking paper will prevent the biscuits from sticking.
4. Bake until a pale brown (about 8 minutes).
5. Make a water icing by mixing the sifted icing sugar with 1 tsp. of water until you reach a preferred consistency (we kept ours quite thick, using about 2 tsp. water) in a small bowl.
6. Dip the tops of the biscuits in these to coat and place a dried cherry in the centre of each biscuit.
7. Leave on foil or baking paper for the icing to dry before eating.
Original Recipe for 'Almond Biscuits for Tea or Dessert'
'BOOK 3': A Second Dudley Book of Recipes (1914)
Collected and Arranged By: Georgina Ward, Countess of Dudley
Publisher: Hutchinson & Co. (Paternoster Row, London, England, U.K.)