Chewy Macaroons

Neither of us has a particularly sweet tooth. What we do both like, however, is nuts. So much so that I have taken to hiding them as Mr. P can munch his way through amazing quantities of an evening whilst lounging on the sofa watching the, to my mind, rubbish that passes for entertainment on the television. To be honest I can munch on them too, and cashew nuts are my real downfall, but I tend to serve myself a small bowl and savour them rather than get through a whole packet in one sitting!

This brings me to the big kilo jar of blanched almonds that I have stashed at the back of the shelf in the pantry. Well it seems that Mr. P discovered this and, late at night when I've gone to bed and he's ensconced with the midnight movie, he got into the habit of raiding it ... well until he got caught out that is! And, of course, it happened when I wanted to use some in the kitchen and found the jar was empty .... ugggh!

With the blanched almonds now having been restocked, and marital harmony restored, I decided to make the Chewy Macaroons from Nigella's Feast that I have been eyeing for some time as a little treat for Easter. Okay they are actually in the Passover chapter but no matter. They not only look absolutely fabulous but by making them it means that I am also participating in the n.com Cook-A-Long for this month.

As soon as I had everything mixing in the KA it became apparent that it was not the grainy thick paste that Nigella says it should be, it really was quite gloopy. I've never seen ground almonds to buy here so whenever a recipe calls for them I blitz whole blanched almonds in the processor, and up to now that has always been a good solution. I think the problem has come about because living in a country where almonds grow ours are really fresh and so have a high oil content. Also I now realise that I've never ground such a large amount as this recipe calls for, only say 25g or so for some muffins or cupcakes.

So not wanting to admit defeat I started wondering how I could advoid the disaster that was staring me in the face. Luckily I had some brown rice flour, which I thought would be a better binding agent than wheat flour, and so switched the KA back on and started slowly adding it by the spoonful. In all it took just about 100g of flour to bring the mixture to what I thought might pass as a grainy thick paste. With some trepidation I continued with the recipe and, because of the flour, kept a sharp eye on them whilst baking. As it turned out they took a tiny bit longer, fourteen minutes in all. Even with the addition of the 100g of flour I got only 27 macaroons but they turned out beautifully and are delicious! Okay they look a bit more grainy than in the photograph in Feast but I can happily say they were a complete success. Whee!



Chewy Macaroons
Makes about 28

• 200g ground almonds
• 200g caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp finely ground cardamom
• 2 egg whites (from large eggs)
• 1-2 tbsp rosewater
• approx. 25g blanched almonds

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Mix together the ground almonds, sugar, ground cardamom and egg whites, and knead with your hands or use the flat beater in a freestanding mixer until you have a coherent paste. This is thick, and needs to be, so the mixer is the best bet.

Sprinkle some rosewater onto your hands and, form little balls, about the size of smallish walnuts, out of the grainy thick paste. As you put them on the lined baking sheet - about 3cm apart - squish them down slightly so that they are no longer balls but fat patties. Stud the centre of each disc with a blanched almond and bake for 10-12 minutes. They will still be pretty pale when cooked but if they are beginning to turn golden at the edges, take them out of the oven and, lifting each one carefully with a spatula or fish slice, let them cool on a rack. When cooled, store in an airtight tin. You can make them ahead of time, open-freeze on a tray for an hour, then fill plastic bags with them and keep them stashed in the freezer. They probably don't need more than an hour to defrost at room temperature and be ready for the table.

Cook's note: Amy very kindly forewarned me that it is recommendable to use Bake-O-Glide rather than lining the baking sheet with baking parchment, and I would second that.