I first made this recipe around Christmas time and my mum is now
obsessed with them. For the last five years or so I've made my boyfriend’s
family a festive hamper, and it's always fun planning what treats to
include each year. I stumbled across this and with a few tweaks I know it's one
that I'll be including for years to come!
This isn't a very difficult recipe but
does require a few harder to find ingredients, such as the pistachios and dried
cherries. However I assure you that they are worth finding as they definitely
make the recipe!
Whenever I come back from University I
find the cupboard stocked with cherries and nuts and I know that my mother has
been looking forward to my return as it means that these biscotti’s' will be
back in the house.
My sister gave me a beautiful Kenwood
mixer for my 21st birthday in November which certainly makes the kneading
process a lot less cumbersome. But it wouldn't take 10 minutes to knead
them into perfection by hand.
 |
| Kenwood is bae |
If you didn't have the specific fruits in
your cupboard then don't be afraid to experiment! I find whole nuts work better
than chopped or flaked, as the smaller pieces tend to get lost in the mixture.
So if you do swap out opt for whole hazelnuts or almonds to make sure it's still
crunchy and delicious.
Once you've baked the biscotti's the first
time and sliced them, you can freeze them for up to 3 months. This is so handy
as if you have friends coming by or want to take a gift to someone, you can
just whack these in the oven for 20 minutes and they're ready to go.
Don't worry if the biscotti's are quite hard and dry: they're supposed to be! Ideally you'd serve these with coffee at the end of a meal or with a morning paper.
RECIPE:
Makes around 40 biscotti’s
Ingredients:
350g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
250g golden caster sugar
3 beaten eggs
Coarsely grated zest of one orange
Coarsely grated zest of one lemon
85g raisins
85g cherries
50g blanched almonds
50g shelled pistachios
Method:
Heat the oven to 180°C and grease two long baking sheets.
Put the flour, baking powder, spice and sugar in a large bowl and mix
well.
Stir in the eggs and zests until the mixture starts to form. You may
have to add in more flour at this stage (I added in around 30g more)
Knead the mixture until it comes together well, then add in the fruits
and nuts and work until evenly distributed.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough
into 4 pieces.
Roll these pieces out into sausages around 30cm long.
Place two on each tray and bake for 25-30 mins, until firm and slightly
risen.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool
until you can handle them easily.
Turn the oven down to 140°C.
Using a bread knife cut
the sausages into slices around 1cm thick diagonally, so they are quite long.
At this stage you can bag
and freeze the biscotti for a later date.
Bake the biscotti pieces
for a further 15 minutes (20 if from frozen), or until dry and golden.
Tip onto a wire rack and
allow to cool before storing in an airtight container.
Once baked I've heard they last for a
week, but in our house they rarely last longer than a day or two!
Serve with a strong coffee and dunk the
biscotti in to feel like a true Italian.
Have you had a go at making biscotti? Let
me know!
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