Instructions: Place hazelnuts in a roasting pan and toast for 10 to 15 minutes in a pre-heated 350-degree oven. (Hazelnuts are toasted to give additional flavor and to help loosen outside skin.) Rub by small handfuls in a towel to remove skins. When cool, grind 1/3 of them roughly in a blender or food processor and set aside in a small bowl. Grind the rest of them with the sugar, and reserve for the following cookie mixture.

Cookie Mixture: Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees, and set rack in middle level. Cream the butter in a mixing bowl (if chilled, cut into pieces and beat with a wooden spoon in a metal bowl over warm water; if it softens too much, then beat over cold water until a creamy mass.) Blend in the sugar and hazelnut mixture, the salt, and the cream. Add the egg whites, stirring only enough to blend. Sift and fold in the flour by thirds, then fold in the rum. Mixture should look like a heavy batter.

Baking: Drop a 2 tablespoon blob of cookie mixture on a buttered cookie sheet, and spread it out, into a 4 1/2-inch circle with the back of a tablespoon. Form 1 or 2 more cookie shapes, leaving a good inch between them. Sprinkle a pinch of chopped hazelnuts over each. Cookies are done when 1/4 inch around edges is lightly browned.

Set cookie sheet on open oven door and let cool a few seconds. One at a time gently slither spatula or pancake turner under a cookie all around to loosen it, lift it off, turn it upside down on your work surface, and roll it around the metal or paper horn. Rapidly repeat with the other cookies - leaving them on the oven door keeps them pliable until you are ready to roll them.

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