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Kransekage: Almond Cookies

Eaten on New Year's Eve at midnight.
From: theguardian.com MAKES ABOUT 24

blanched almonds 100g
caster sugar 200g
egg whites 2
homemade marzipan (see below) 500g
walnut halves 24
dried apricots 6
tempered dark chocolate 200g
For the homemade marzipan:
blanched almonds 500g
icing sugar 100g, plus extra for kneading
water 50ml

First the marzipan – if you cannot buy good quality marzipan you can make your own (the recipe makes 600g). Whizz the almonds in the food processor and keep whizzing until they become a paste. Add the icing sugar, whizz again, then add the water and whizz again. Take the marzipan out of the food processor and knead it on a work surface dusted with icing sugar. Now it is ready to be used for cakes and sweets. It will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge, and you'll find it tastes much better than shop-bought stuff.

To make the almond cookies, whizz the almonds and sugar together in a food processor until finely ground. Add the egg whites and whizz again until you have a smooth, white mixture. Make sure the mixture does not get too hot in the processor, otherwise the egg whites start clotting.

Grate the marzipan and then blend it into the almond mixture. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover tightly and leave to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or until the next day.

Shape the mixture into 24 rectangular cakes about 2cm wide and 6cm long, like shortbread fingers. Press a walnut half on to one end of each almond finger, and two strips of dried apricot on to the other end.

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5. Place the shortbread fingers on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15-18 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Melt the chocolate gently in a double boiler, then dip the bottom of each almond cake in the chocolate and leave to set on a piece of baking paper.