For Sweet Pastry recipe click here

Ingredients for the filling – Makes about 2 figolli

• 250g pure ground almonds
• 200g sugar
• 1 egg, separate the white and yolk
• almond essence
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Rolling pin
• Figolli/Cookie cutters
• Pastry brush
• Baking paper

Method

1. Pre  heat oven gas mark 4-5
2. Mix together almonds and sugar. Beat well the egg white and add to almond/sugar mix. Combine well together.
3. Add almond essence, zest and juice of 1/2 lemon. Mix well until consistency resembles a ‘dough’. If mixture is too hard, add a tiny bit of water or some more egg whites if you have any left.
4. Dust your kitchen top and rolling pin with flour so when opening the dough it won’t stick.
5. Prepare figolli cutters and cut through the dough 2 times of the same shape.
6. Paste one of the shapes with the almond mixture leaving the edges empty. Brush some water on the edges and place the other shape right on top. With the tip of your fingers press down slightly along the edge of the whole shape so it won’t lift up whilst cooking.
7. Brush the top of your ‘figolla’ with the egg yolk.
8. Place in oven and bake for around 30 mins.
9. When ready, leave to cool completely and decorate with chocolate or icing. Best is to decorate the next day.

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Left over filling – you can make some delicious almond biscuits. Roll the mixture into a ball and place on a lined oven dish. Put an almond on top (I used walnuts as that’s what I had in my cupboard) and bake on gas mark 4 for around 20mins.