by Alison Hilton, Marketing Officer and biscuit sampler.

Fans of Picnic Café in Reading will share my excitement about this week’s recipe, which owner, Jon Amery has kindly agreed to share. Picnic is supplying the cake for the tea tent at the MERL Village Fete again this year, and Jon will be a judge on the Biscuit Bake-off panel. We mentioned these weekly biscuit recipes a little while ago to Jon, hinted at our preference for Picnic’s delicious macaroons and held our breath! Apparently it was a topic of some debate amongst Picnic staff as to whether the macaroon could be classed as a biscuit. Thankfully, it seems it can!

Last week, Phillippa and I decided to prove our dedication, and visited the café for a working lunch, which obviously had to include the famous macaroon (and some apple cake!) … it’s a hard job, but someone has to do it!

Anyway, here is that very special and surprisingly simple-looking recipe from Jon, who has (sadly?) scaled down quantities to make just 10 golf ball sized macaroons:

Picnic’s Macaroons

Mix together 440g of ground almond, 300g of caster sugar (we use an unrefined organic sugar from south America) and 4 egg whites until consistent in texture.

Shape into golf ball sized balls and place on a baking tray ensuring a 1” gap between balls Push (don’t place as they will fall off!) a whole almond on top.

Pop in a pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes on 180 C or until golden brown.

Have a go and let us know how they turn out! If you’re brave enough to put your version in front of Jon, why not enter the Biscuit Bake-off at the Village Fete on May 31st?!