Abricotines by Ladurée

The first time I went to Paris I remember walking down the Champs-Elysées and coming to a sudden halt in front of this pale green and gold building sporting the name Ladurée. This was before Australians even had an idea of a macaron let a lone Ladurée so you can imagine just how enthralled I was by the prettiness of this historic building let alone the exquisite desserts, biscuits and food it was championing inside. It was just my mum and I, so we sat ourselves down and indulged in some of the most memorable cakes we have ever tasted; their smooth and luscious lemon tart, their crisp and vanilla millefeuille, their tender and chewy macarons and these absolutely incredible almond and apricot biscuits.

I couldn’t help myself but buy their Sucré cookbook right there and then and get insight into how they make these most luscious little treats and I have been oh so grateful I made that investment because each recipe is a dream. If the store isn’t pretty enough, their cookbooks are covered in velvet, wrapped in tissue paper and placed in an exquisite box. To put is simply, you’d want to be sure your hands are washed, sanitised and soaked in Dettol before you even touch the cookbook.

These abricotines are my mum’s favourite biscuits. After having tried them at the store we bought a box to take with us for the next part of our holiday – Greece. I had to viciously slap my mum’s hands away countless times before we even got to Greece to prevent her from eating them, but the wait was oh so rewarding. The memory of when we opened the box is so vivid in my mind, we were driving around for hours in our Mercedes Viano, my mum and I hiding in the back and starting to need our 3pm sugar fix, my mum was going to let my brother and dad try them, but after one bite that idea was washed away and we never even told them we had them. They are sublime!

They have such a lightness to them, and the fruitiness of the apricot paired with the nuttiness of the almonds is magical. It’s hard to believe that they don’t even have butter – I mean how can a biscuit without butter taste soo good?!

So without further ado, thank you Ladurée for this incredible recipe and for allowing me to share ti with the world …

1 1/3 cups + 1 tbsp (170g) icing sugar

2¼ cups (215g) ground almonds

¼ cup cake flour

6 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp (40g) granulated sugar

¾ cup + 2tbsp (85g) flaked almonds

1 cup (300g) apricot jam

Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl. Combine with the ground almonds and flour. In another large clean, dry bowl, whip the egg white to a foam. Once they are white and frothy, add the vanilla extract and granulated sugar, and continue to whip until firm.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the mixture of confectioners’ sugar, ground almond and flour into the whipped egg whites. Start with the spatula in the center of the bowl, work up the sides of the bowl and bring the mixture back down towards the center, all the while turning the bowl regularly. Continue until you have a smooth and homogenous mixture.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Transfer batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, pipe small disks, approximately ¾ inch in diameter. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Lower the oven temperature to 170 degrees Celsius. Place sheet in oven and bake for 12 – 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely. Place a coin of apricot jam on the biscuit shells and top with remaining shells. Dust with icing sugar.

Place the biscuits in an airtight container in the refrigerator and allow to rest for a minimum of 12 hours before tasting. You can also make this recipe using raspberry jam.