Prep 15minBake 12-15min (per batch)Makes about 20

These macaroons are commonly crumbled and used in the traditional Danish Lagkage (layer cake), a traditional Danish birthday cake. They are wonderfully crisp on the outside while being mor-ishly soft on the inside and are truly addictive as a ‘sweet’ treat. While not traditional, I’ve taken the liberty of adding a sprinkling of flaked almonds for extra texture.

Ingredients

100g almond meal
100g pure icing sugar, sifted
Good pinch of bicarbonate of soda
2 egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
25g (¼ cup) flaked almonds, to sprinkle

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2. Put the almond meal, icing sugar and bicarbonate of soda in a medium bowl and mix until evenly combined.
3. Use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment to whisk the egg whites and salt in a medium clean, dry bowl until stiff peaks form. Add the almond meal and icing sugar mixture and use a spatula or large metal spoon to fold together until evenly combined.
4. Use two metal teaspoons to spoon slightly heaped spoonfuls of the mixture onto the lined tray about 4 cm apart to allow for spreading. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and then bake in the third top of the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden and aromatic.
5. Cool the macaroons on the tray. Repeat with the remaining mixture to make about 20 macaroons in total.

This recipe is from Anneka's SBS Food online column, Bakeproof: Danish Baking. CLICK HERE for more Bakeproof recipes. 

Photography by Alan Benson.