Ingredients

Step by step

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas 3. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.
2. Put the caster sugar in a small food processor and pulse a few times with the lemon zest until you have a fine lemon sugar (or grind in a pestle and mortar).
3. Tip into a mixing bowl and combine with the ground almonds.
4. In another bowl, whish the egg whites with 25g of the icing sugar, using a hand-held electric whisk, until they have stiff peaks. Add to the bowl with the ground almond mixture and gently fold in, along with the lemon juice, until evenly combined.
5. Put 50g of icing sugar on a dinner plate and drop heaped tablespoons of the mixture onto the icing sugar, rolling them around in the icing sugar until coated all over. Arrange on the baking sheets (6 on each) and press down to discs about 1cm thick. Dust over with a little more icing sugar until coated. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the surface cracks and they are golden brown, but they will still be quite soft. Cool for 5 minutes then carefully transfer to wire rack to cool completely.