These are not the amaretti that have populated my previous posts, these are the softer, chewier ones. I never really contemplated making them before, assuming they’d be fierce complicated or temperamental but far from it. They involve only four ingredients and they take minutes to prepare.

The only reason I even made them this time was because I had four egg whites left over from a separate bake and didn’t think that myself and my husband were up to demolishing an entire pavlova ourselves. I didn’t fancy meringues or financiers either so I turned to good old BBC food. A quick search for egg white recipes came up with one by Gino D’Acampo for these beasties. To be honest he wouldn’t be the first chef I’d go to but perhaps I judged him rashly. In any case here is the original recipe.

Lastly, forget all that healthy eating, detox carry on – it’s bad for you.

Oven temperature 170 Celsius – makes about 23

Caster sugar                    340g

Ground almonds            340g

Egg whites                       4

Disaronno/ Amaretti     1 tablespoon

Preheat the oven and line a few baking trays with baking parchment.

Mix the caster sugar and almonds together.

I feel like I should pad out the recipe because it really is remarkably straightforward, so here’s a geology joke:

How fast does a fault move?

……………………

A mylonite – pronounced mile-a-night

Hahahahha.

(Hilarious because mylonite is formed in fault zones)

Now whisk the egg whites till the firm peak stage.

Fold the sugary almonds into the egg whites and add in the liqueur.

Wet your hands with some water and then roll little ping pong ball sized rounds of the batter. Place them onto the baking trays, leaving a good few centimeters between them because they do spread a fair bit.

Put the trays into the oven and bake for 17-24mins depending how you want them. 17mins will be palest brown and will end up very soft, about 20mins will be chewier and 24mins will be almost crispy on top but should still just have a bit of chewiness.

That’s really all. They’d be lovely with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.