Biscuit Joconde is an almond sponge cake, named after the Mona Lisa, which is known as La Joconde in French. In addition to containing almonds, it differs from other sponge cakes by having whole eggs beaten with sugar and using ground almonds before the meringue is folded in. Joconde is baked in thin layers on baking sheets and it is used to make linings for the outsides of charlottes, a traditional French raspberry mousse cake, and other Bavarian mousse cakes.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Break the whole eggs in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer. On medium high speed, whisk in the sugar and the almonds powder for about 7 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of sugar until almost stiff, then add 50 grams of sugar and whisk until completely stiff and peaks form to obtain a Meringue.

Melt the butter and incorporate it to the egg and almond mixture, then, stir in the sifted flour, and mix well. Add a third of the stiff egg whites and gently fold in the rest of the Meringue to obtain a smooth paste.

Set a greased and floured sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat on a baking tray. Pour over the mixture, and with a spatula spread evenly over the tray to about a half centimeter thickness. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the biscuit does not stick anymore to the finger tip. Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack. Use Biscuit Joconde accordingly to your cake recipe.