I have started to write my posts in Word first, and then
copy and save them to the computer as more than one has fallen victim to a
dodgy work internet connection. And I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to a)shout
and swear as loudly as I’d like and b) throw the stupid computer against a
wall. According to Marty I’m never allowed to do b) so I throw the stapler
instead. Coincidently, I broke the stapler during one of these tantrums and it
didn’t staple properly for ages – it’s to be expected, but on a subsequent tirade
I fixed it again by throwing it even harder on the floor and it all bounced
back into place. This does not work for everything, but remotes and staplers
appear to respond well. I can also check my word count on Word, which is more based
on curiosity and some future references than anything else. I digress. I’m
going to tell you about my biscotti making experience. A highly enjoyable
experience to say the least and I think I’ll repeat it soon to see if I can get
it right twice. That is the thing about baking, getting it right every time, or
as in the case of my famous brownies, getting it better every time!
So, I found numerous recipes and then found one on www.taste.com.au that was only 4 steps and
had great reviews. It was to accompany a very chocolaty dessert so I needed
something that wasn’t too sweet or overpowering, and maybe had a slightly tart
fruit. And didn’t have pistachios. EVERY biscotti has pistachios (because they
look cool with the green – says Marty!)And pistachios are ridiculously
expensive shelled and time-consuming not. If you’ll remember the M’Hanncha from
a Christmas post I sat and shelled all the pistachios then. Not again. It was fine as I
was sitting outside drinking champagne, but I certainly had better things to do
this time. I thought, 4 steps, easy-peasy, I was warned of the time-consuming
nature of making biscotti but set to work anyway. It is time-consuming, but not
in any way different to making biscuits or baking a cake. When you bake a cake
you mix the ingredients, bake the cake, let it cool, ice it, decorate it and
then eat it. This is a whole day affair. Biscuits need to be made in batches
unless you have a commercial kitchen or oven. And biscotti needs to be baked a
second time.
We were having the dinner party in the evening, and had been
so thoroughly organised, that while Marty enjoyed rewatching the All Blacks
rugby game and then watching another game – Wallabies maybe? – I could get
stuck into the kitchen quietly and on my own. I did seek his professional opinion
through some of the process, probably only because he was there, but now having
made it myself I feel equipped to repeat the process and know what to look for.
I have become accustomed to attempting challenging recipes set out by Gordon (Ramsay)
and Jamie (Oliver) and both offer advice as to how things should look, feel,
smell, etc when they are at different stages. That’s the one thing this recipe
lacked, but maybe I can impart some of that knowledge. Ready for the recipe?
What you’ll need:
2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 ½ tsps Baking powder
½ cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup raw almonds, I chopped mine a little
½ cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
What to do:
1. Preheat
the oven to 160deg.2. Place 2 cups sifted plain flour in a large bowl with 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder (I sifted it all together), ½ cup dried cranberries, 2/3 cup raw almonds and ½ cup castor sugar. Combine and create a well in the middle. This will make it much easier to mix.
3. Add the 3 eggs and mix until well combined. It will be a dough, but not too dry. Mine was on the stickier side as it had been dry and I’d added another egg – Thanks Marty! I did need to add more flour as well. I also added 2 tsps of cinnamon to the dry ingredients and a little more cranberries.
4. Transfer the dough to an even work surface, lightly dusted with flour and knead with your hands until smooth. This did not take long. I had mixed everything quite well and didn’t want to over-knead it. Shape into a log and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Press along top of log to flatten slightly. Because of my extra egg my loaf spread as little. In the future I may half the mixture and make 2 smaller logs and they did spread during cooking. This made for lovely long pieces on biscotti, but they could have been smaller.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven and cool.
6. Cut log into 1cm-thick slices, place on baking tray and cook for another 12-15 minutes until hard.
Yes, the recipe I’ve given you
is longer than 4 steps, but that’s because I’ve broken up a couple of the
steps. And I’m going to change step 6 completely!
I do not like my biscotti
thick and unmanageable. Left to Marty they would have been 1mm thick, but I
think mine were between 3-5mm thick. Perfect in my opinion. Not too thin to
break apart when used with the dessert and not to thick that you couldn’t bite
through them.
I did them in batches as the
slices need to be lain flat on the baking tray. I put them in for about
10minutes then turned the pieces over for another 3minutes. My oven has a hot
spot in the back left hand corner so the tray generally needs to be rotated
anyway. I think they were perfectly cooked!
Once cooled they were ready to serve. I loved them and
quite enjoyed these biscotti. Commercial
biscotti I often find over-sweet and this had a nice tang to it. My boss – not a
biscotti lover- actually rang me after I’d given her some to let me know it was
the best she’d ever had and I should think about giving up my day job – to baking.
Since I manage her store, I’m not sure if she was aware of the implications,
but suffice to say I’d love to spend my day baking goods and selling them! So
if you have a restaurant /café that want some biscotti I’ll make you a free
trial and you can buy it from me if you love it!
I thoroughly enjoyed my biscotti-making experience, and I’d
definitely do it again. I’d like to experiment with other flavours and
ingredients and see if there are any other recipes out there. If anyone has a
suggestion for me I’d love to hear from you.
Ciao
xoxo
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