• enough shelled nuts to make 1½ cups finely minced almonds or a mixture of hazelnuts and almonds
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup honey (the best you can find)
• ½ cup water
• 1 lemon, cut in half
• 8 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 300°. Place the shelled but unpeeled almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes until brown. Remove from the oven and mince them finely. Put them back in a turned-off oven.

Bring the sugars, honey, and water to a boil and stir with a wooden spoon. When the mixture has heated to 300° add the butter and the warm nuts and pour onto a greased surface (marble or formica counter, aluminum cookie sheet, or aluminum foil). Smooth out and push with the 2 halves of the lemon until the entire sheet is very thin—from ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Lift off the sheet before it is completely cooled and hardened and mold it against the inside of a buttered marble or china mortar or a wide bowl. Let it cool, then unmold on a platter. It will look like a golden bell.

You may decorate it with crystallized violets or mimosa flowers (on sale in gourmet shops) or candied fruits or dribbles of icing. I prefer it plain.

Keep the leftover pieces wrapped in aluminum foil or in a closed glass jar. Never refrigerate.