In my book The Curious Curate and the Opera Singer Amelie Rouen (the famous Amaline) spends a little time at the vicarage in Harelton with Aiden and assists the housekeeper Mrs. Comfrey in making her own recipe for Almondine Biscuits. Here is my version of this recipe. I hope you like it!
Amelie’s Almondine Biscuits
Preheat
the oven to 180C
100 grams of ground almonds
120 grams of sugar (this can be all
white or half white and half dark brown sugar if you prefer a toastier flavor)
300 grams of plain flour
200 grams of salted butter
2 medium eggs
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
For the topping:
50 grams of thinly sliced or
slivered almonds
2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
Cream together the butter and sugars
until smooth and set aside
Mix the ground almonds, flour and
nutmeg in a separate bowl
Beat the eggs and add slowly to the
butter and sugar mixture stirring constantly until smooth
Add the dry ingredients a little at
a time until a firm dough is formed
Roll out the dough on a floured
surface and using a crinkled edged cutter cut the biscuits into rounds.
If you like a thicker softer biscuit
roll out the dough to approximately 8-10mm, for thinner crisper biscuit rollout
the dough to approx. 5mm
Place on a greased and lightly
floured baking sheet.
Add the toppings before baking: Take
the slivered/sliced almonds and sprinkle on top, or form a star, a fan, or any other shape you
prefer in the center of the biscuit, then sprinkle lightly with a pinch of
brown sugar.
Place in the center of the oven and
bake for approximately 8 minutes until a light golden brown. If
you are making thinner biscuits, your cooking time will be less so watch them
carefully.
Slide them from the baking sheet
onto a metal rack and allow to cool.
These will be particularly good with a cold glass of champagne at the New Year or any other time for an after dinner dessert.
