Cardamom and lemon biscuits.

This is a northern European recipe for a rather strong tasting cardamom biscuit that really works well. The strange thing is that you do not associate cardamom with Norway or Sweden but that is where it is from.  It was Vikings who  formed the  Varangian guard, Basil II’s personal bodyguards in Constantinople . Recruited from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway for their fearsome reputation. And it is that possible connection that is why you get cardamom and lemon biscuits all the way in northern Europe where you do not get lemons or cardamoms in any grate number.

You will need

225g/8oz butter, softened

150g/5½oz caster sugar

The zest of 1 lemon

250g/9oz plain flour

100g/3½oz ground almonds

3tsp ground cardamom

First beat the sugar, butter and lemon zest together in a large bowl, cream them until you have a nice light pale fluffy texture. Take the flour, almonds and cardamom and cut them into each other then add them a little at a time in to the butter. Work the mixture together until you have nice smooth dough.

Now grease a couple of trays and line them with grease proof paper. Then roll the dough out in to balls and place them on the trays.  Now you have to press down the biscuit with the end of a rolling pin of the bottom of a glass jar.  Or just form them with your fingers and mark the tops with a pattern with a fork or something like that.

Now all you have to do is bake them in a preheated oven set at 190c/375f for about 12 to 15 minutes until they are all a pale golden brown colour. Once cooked take them of the trays and on a rack to cool, and as the cool they will go nice and crisp. Once they are fully cool take them and out them in a tin.