SPICED ALMOND BISCUITS
Oven: 220C
These are based on the traditional South
African Soetkoekie – but I am not
fond of rolling out biscuit dough and fiddling around with cookie cutters, the
way those are made!
500g cake flour I teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon salt 200g butter/margarine
½ teaspoon ground cloves 200ml ground almonds
2 teaspoons ground
cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon ground
ginger 70ml red wine
375ml sugar halved almonds – optional
About 125ml Castor sugar for dusting
Sift dry ingredients together and rub in
the butter. You can do this in the food processor. Then add the ground almonds
and pulse a few times to mix.
Tip the mixture into a bowl and add the
wine and egg. Using your hands, work to stiff dough. Divide the dough into four
portions and roll each into a ‘sausage’ about 4cm in diameter. Cover with cling
film and leave to stand for several hours. (Or wrap well and freeze to bake
later).
Cut each roll into 3mm slices. Place on a
greased baking sheet, allowing a little space for spreading. This is when you
can top the biscuits with a halved almond if you want to. Bake for 10 minutes.
While still warm, dip the upper side of
each biscuit in castor sugar. Brush off the excess.
Store the biscuits in an airtight container
when cool.