Tilly’s Swiss Brunsli Biscuits

Mix 90g golden caster sugar and 110g ground almonds together in a bowl.

Break 85g chocolate into pieces. Gradually grate the dark chocolate into a bowl. Use a fork to help. Tip the curls of grated chocolate into the mixing bowl. Add ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground cloves and 3 grinds of nutmeg and stir.

Crack the egg into a mug and check it for pieces of shell. Try to keep the yolk in one piece. Pour the egg gently out onto a plate, then cover the egg yolk with an egg cup to separate it from the white, and pour the egg white into a bowl and add this to the mixing bowl. It doesn’t matter if a little of the yolk gets into the white for this recipe.

Mix everything together with your hands or a spoon and get it to stick together. Use your hands to bring the mixture into a ball. Lightly sprinkle the work surface with more ground almonds to stop the dough from sticking. Sprinkle a little on the top of the biscuit dough too. Flatten the dough slightly by pressing down with the rolling pin, then gently roll-out to about 5mm thick.

Cut the biscuit shapes (we used a 7cm snowflake cutter) then lift them carefully onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Push the leftover dough together and reroll to cut out more biscuits. Don’t forget to wipe your hands when you have finished.

When you have cut all the dough out, ask an adult to put the baking sheet in the oven at 150°C for 15 minutes, then put the biscuits on the side on a cooling rack.

Once the biscuits are cool, they are ready to ice. Put 70g icing sugar in a mug or jug and pour in 3 tsp cold water. Mix well to make a smooth icing – it should drip off the spoon.

Take a teaspoon of icing and with the spoon held vertically, drip the icing on top of the biscuits. Put to one side for the icing to set.