I am a big fan of these Italian almond biscuits. Made with ground almonds, they happen to be gluten free and are fairly quick and easy to make. I’ve drawn inspiration from the Love and Olive Oil blog, which features some fabulous variations on this classic biscuit in very photogenic colours. This recipe uses aquafaba, or the liquid drained from a tin of chickpeas, a zero waste trick which pleases me immensely.
Makes 12-14 biscuits
Ingredients
165g almond flour
85g granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon lemon juice
30g aquafaba
1/4 teaspoon almond essence
icing sugar, for rolling the biscuits
- Pre-heat your oven to 150C and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Add the lemon juice to the aquafaba and whisk until it has soft peaks. In my experience, a whisk attachment for a blender stick does the best job. (I’ve had some peculiar privileged problems trying to whisk aquafaba, struggling to get the right appliance for the job. I found my stand mixer didn’t really work with small amounts of liquid as the whisk barely touched the liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Using an old fashioned electric hand whisk took ages but everything whisked up quickly using the whisk attachment for the blender stick.)
- Once the aquafaba has turned into a fluffy cloud and you can tip the bowl upside down without the mixture moving, add the ground almonds, sugar and almond essence to the bowl and combine gently. Sprinkle two tablespoons of icing sugar onto a plate, ready to roll the biscuits in.
- Shape the biscuit dough into one inch balls, then lightly roll each one in the icing sugar (you want a fairly generous coating) before placing onto the baking tray. Bake for 25-35 minutes – they should have a few cracks on the surface. Allow the amaretti to cool before removing from the trays. They will keep for a few days in an airtight box.
Cake By Deva 