Almond Macaroons

Instructions

1. Blanch a pound of fresh Jordan almonds, wipe them dry, and set them into a very cool oven to render them perfectly so.
2. Pound them to an exceedingly smooth paste with a little white of egg.
3. Whisk to a firm solid froth the white of seven eggs, or of eight should they be small; mix with them a pound and a half of the finest sugar.
4. Add these by degrees to the almonds, and whisk the whole up well together.
5. Drop the mixture upon wafer-paper, which may be procured at the confectioner's.
6. Bake the cakes in a moderate oven a very pale brown.
7. It is an improvement to their flavour to substitute an ounce of bitter almonds for one of the sweet. They are sometimes made with an equal weight of each; and another variety is obtained by gently browning the almonds in a slow oven before they are pounded.
8. Proportions: Jordan almonds blanched, 1 lb.; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.; whites of 7 or 8 eggs.
9. Time: 15 to 20 minutes.