Recipes

To make the almond paste, beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Beat in egg and almond essence. Stir in ground almonds and flour.

Beat in egg and almond essence. Stir in ground almonds and flour.

Heat oven to 180°C.

Slice the croissants in half lengthways, not all the way through. With a broad butter knife or spreader, slather the bottom half of the croissant with almond paste. Spread some more paste on top of the croissants and then scatter with the flaked almonds. (We find that the almonds tend to fall off easily, defeating our ploy to almondify them, so we have to half-plaster half-spike them into the almond paste to make the almonds stay.)

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown. But watch very carefully – it’s heart-breaking if you burn these! And they bake quickly! Dust with icing sugar before serving