Ingredients

3 balls of stem ginger in syrup + 2 tbsp syrup

350g ground almonds

1 tsp mahleb

80g egg whites

170g caster sugar

Zest from 1 large unwaxed orange

200g icing sugar

Around 25 whole almonds, for decoration

 Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 160 °C fan.

2. Chop the stem ginger finely.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until lightly frothy. Add the ground almonds, mahleb, caster sugar, chopped stem ginger and the syrup, and the orange zest. Mix until the dough comes together.

4. Sift half of the icing sugar onto a shallow plate with a lip.

5. Scoop out balls of dough (around 25g each) and roll into balls using damp hands. Place the cookie dough balls in the icing sugar and roll them around to cover completely. Sift over the remaining icing sugar. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.

6. Transfer the cookie dough balls to 2 baking trays lined with parchment paper. Drench with more icing sugar and press one almond into the top of each cookie.

7. Bake for 16-18 mins, until the cookies are golden brown between the cracks.