Biscotti for Marie-Rose
Biscotti for Marie-Rose
Gosh I adore my nieces, Marie-Rose has been endearing herself to me by coming over just to have some biscotti, and see me of course too! One night, when it was cold and snowy, in her haste to cross over from her house to mine, she even fell in the stairs coming into the house! You should have seen her knuckles. Anyone that works so hard for biscotti should have her own recipe, and as it happens, this seems to be her favorite.
What is different about it? It is the recipe I make (with variations but just about it) during the holidays, they are so perfect with a hot drink, eggnog and or a sweet dessert wine. They are also perfect with coffee! Marie-Rose seems to have them with tea.
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 c. sugar (natural or refined)
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ c. almonds
2/3 c. diced apricots or dried cranberries, or both!
1 tsp. vanilla or rum flavouring
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
Glaze
½ c. powdered sugar
2 pinches cinnamon
1 tbsp. milk
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla including lemon or orange peel.
In a separate bowl measure out the flour, baking soda, salt, spices, almonds and dried cranberries. Stir till well mixed.
Beating on medium, add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Do not over mix. The dough should be tacky (sticky to the touch), if your mixture is dry, you can add an egg yolk, a whole egg, or even better, melted butter till the dough does become tacky.
Form two logs of equal proportions (about 14 x 3 x 1 inch high) and place on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper. Bake in a 350 ° oven for 25 minutes.
Note: If you are not glazing your biscotti or dipping them in chocolate, you could brush with a beaten egg white for a lovely glossy look.
Remove from oven and let them rest 10 minutes before slicing them in app. 1-inch-wide pieces, you can also cut them diagonally for a different look.
Lower the oven to 325° F.
Place them back on the parchment covered sheet pan and bake 10 minutes more, after 10 minutes, turn them and cook them for another 10 minutes. Let cool.
At this point, you could dip them in chocolate or glaze them. Your choice.
To glaze, stir all the ingredients till silky and drizzle over biscotti.
