Bitter Sweet Recipes

Biscotti is one of my all time favourite things to dunk into my coffee. I used to work in a cafe that sold delicious biscotti, and when I stopped working there I decided it was high time for me to have a go making it myself. I discovered that there are so many different types of biscotti out there, and even more ways to make it. My first biscotti were Christmas cranberry and pistachio biscotti… great flavour, but hard as a rock, these ones really were made for dunking (if you didn’t want to break your teeth). My second biscotti was an almond flavoured flop, once again tasted great, but after the first baking the log flattened out like a pancake with chunks of almond poking out. My third biscotti was almond and cherry, surprisingly it kept its shape, had a good level of crunch and most importantly tasted like biscotti should. This recipe is an amalgamation of the first two recipes with a few critical alterations to produce a delicious and good textured biscotti.

Biscotti are dried biscuits, so they will keep very well for quite a long period of time in an airtight container. They are great for gifts and easy to post in the mail to friends and relatives. This recipe will make about 13 biscuits, you can double or triple the recipe if you would like more biscuits, just make 2 logs instead of 1.

INGREDIENTS

30 ml of melted butter
75 grams white sugar
5 ml of Vanilla essence
2 ml of Almond essence
1 egg
125 grams plain flour
pinch of salt
3 grams of baking powder
40 grams of glace cherries (whole)
80 grams of raw almonds (whole)

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees celcius and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

In a medium bowl mix the butter, sugar, essences and egg until well combined.
Sift in the flour, salt and baking powder and mix well.
Stir in the cherries and almonds.

With wet hands form the dough into a log on the prepared baking tray. Taper the sides to produce the biscotti shape.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the log is springy to touch and lightly browned.

Turn the oven down to 120 degrees celcius.

Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool slightly until you can comfortably handle it.

Transfer it to a cutting board and using a wet, sharp serrated knife cut the log into 1.5 cm biscuits.

Arrange the biscuits on their sides, back on the baking tray and bake for about 5-10 minutes on each side turning once.

The biscotti should now be ‘dry’. Allow them to cool before storing in an airtight container.

VARIATIONS

There are countless variations on the biscotti recipe. You can substitute the almond essence for a different flavour, or omit it and add extra vanilla essence in its place.
You can also substitute glace cherries for dried cranberries or any other dried fruit. Similarly, the almonds may be substituted with any variety of nut that complements the dried fruit of your choice.

Biscotti are also partial to being dunked in or drizzled with melted white or dark chocolate for added flavour and presentation.