Delicate Nut Cookies

A flourless meringue-and-nut cookie of the type once made from whatever nuts a household had cracked by hand. The recipe is workable as written, but the nut-to-meringue ratio is far heavier than most modern versions and needs to be understood before you start.

• The hinge: keep the meringue stiffBeat the whites to firm peaks before any sugar goes in, then add the sugar a spoonful at a time so it dissolves rather than deflating the foam. Once the nuts go in, fold only until no dry pockets remain; overworking collapses the batter and the cookies spread and toughen.
• That quantity of nutsTwo pounds of finely ground nuts against four whites and two cups of sugar gives a very stiff paste; the recipe says to drop it in small mounds, though at this ratio you may find you are shaping it by hand instead. Reducing the nuts will give a lighter, glossier cookie closer to a modern nut meringue; the original amount is not necessarily an error, just a much denser result.
• Grinding the nutsUse a food processor and pulse in short bursts with a few tablespoons of the measured sugar; the sugar absorbs oil and keeps the nuts from turning to butter. Grind in batches and stop while the texture is still like coarse flour.
• Filberts and hazelnutsThe two names were often used to separate the cultivated European nut from the wild American hazel, though usage was never consistent; today they are generally sold together as hazelnuts. Hickory nuts are the one nut here you will most likely have to gather or order; pecans are the nearest supermarket substitute in flavour.
• Oven and pans350F is what the original specifies, and it is right for these. The recipe says nothing about preparing the sheets; parchment is the safe course, as meringue batters weld themselves to bare metal.
• Judging donenessTen minutes suits mounds about the size of a walnut. They should be set and just barely coloured at the edges while still soft in the centre; they firm as they cool, and a minute or two too long turns them dry and hard all through.
• Yield and keepingThe full quantity makes several dozen small cookies, the exact count depending entirely on how large you make the mounds. Store airtight once completely cool, and keep them away from anything moist or they soften within a day.