Almond cinnamon and meringue biscuits

A recipe from Breakfast Lunch Tea

Makes: 40-50 biscuits

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

450g (4½ cups) icing (confectioner’s) sugar, plus extra for dusting

juice of ½ lemon and grated zest of 1 lemon

320g (3⅓ cups)ground almonds

100g (generous ½ cup) finely chopped mixed peel (candied citrus peel)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

unsalted butter, for greasing

Method:

First make the meringue.

Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then, very gradually, add the sugar. When the mixture is very stiff, beat in the lemon juice.

Set aside 200g (6oz) of the meringue for the topping and put the remaining meringue in a bowl. Add the ground almonds, mixed peel, cinnamon and lemon zest. Mix until you have a dough-like paste, then chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Butter a baking tray and line it with parchment paper. Dust your work surface with sugar and roll the paste out to make a sheet 1cm (½inch) thick.

Cut into your desired shapes (stars, squares or rounds). Brush the tops with the reserved meringue and leave to dry on the prepared baking tray for about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4 and bake the biscuits for about 10 minutes, until the bases are lightly golden.

The tops should remain white and the bases must be soft and moist.

Cool and enjoy.