Macaroons

In a bowl mix the ground almonds together with the sifted icing sugar, ground rice and granulated sugar.

Now stir in the unbeaten egg white and a few drops of almond extract and continue stirring until very thoroughly mixed. The mixture will be sticky but what you now need to do is to divide it in the bowl into four and then divide each quarter into four and roll each piece into a ball, using your hands. Place the biscuits on the lined baking sheet, allowing room between each one for the biscuits to expand during the cooking. Now dampen your fingers and press the biscuits down a little into rounds.

After that top each one with a blanched almond and finally sprinkle on the caster sugar. Now bake the biscuits near the centre of the oven for about 25–30 minutes, or until they are tinged a light golden brown. Leave them to cool, then strip off the rice paper surrounding each biscuit. Store them in an airtight tin as soon as they have cooled if you like to eat them crisp or, if you prefer them a bit chewy, leave them overnight before storing in a tin.