Maria's ischli cookies

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
  
       Title: Maria's Ischli Cookies
  Categories: Cookies
       Yield: 2 Dozen
  
     1/4 lb Almonds or hazelnuts; chop
            -fine
     1/2 lb Butter; room temp
     1/4 lb Sugar
     1/2 lb Flour
            Seedless raspberry preserves
            CHOCOLATE ICING
     1/4 lb Bittersweet chocolate; melt
     1/4 c  Water
       3 tb Superfine sugar
       1 ts Instant espresso coffee
       1 tb Butter
  
   If you cannot buy nuts already ground, then grind them in a processor,
   taking care not to overprocess them or they will turn oily; you can also
   process them with the sugar to prevent them from turning oily. (Note if you
   are working with whole hazelnuts, toast them first in a 400~ oven, rub off
   skins, let cool and then grind.) Combine the nuts with the butter, sugar
   and flour; you will have to combine this dough with your hands; if a bit
   too dry, add drops of lemon juice or rum. Form dough into a roll 1 1/4"
   thick. Refrigerate overnight in waxed paper or parchment. Following day
   preheat the oven to 350~. Cut dough into 1/4" slices and bake on an
   ungreased cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and
   cool cookies on a rack. When cooled to room temperature, sandwich two
   cookies together with raspberry jam and spread some of the chocolate icing
   (see below) over the top cookie. For a pretty presentation, set them in
   fluted paper cups. CHOCOLATE ICING-Melt chocolate with water and sugar.
   When melted, add instant coffee and cook over very low heat for 5 minutes.
   Turn heat off, add butter and let icing cool to room temperature. (Don't
   let it get too firm or it will be hard to spread over cookies.) Yield: 1
   1/2 cups. Source: Cooking Monday to Friday, TVFN. MM Waldine Van Geffen
   vghc42a@prodigy.com.
  
 -----