Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Biscotti...the word conjures up images of travel, exotic places, romance, intrigue...makes you wish you were all dressed up in a pretty frock(with frills & lace), gloves & hat...like you see in some old British movies...and sitting down to tea ...
The origin of biscotti ( which means twice baked ) is from Italy and it is from this that the English biscuit got it's name...though here it was refered to any biscuit and not particularly those that are twice baked.

Why is it that though it is our regular fare of dal-chawaal ( lentil-rice ) or chapati-subzi (flat bread and vegetable ), and curds ?...is what satisfies us most when we have it for lunch or dinner....it is when we talk of dishes from far away lands we feel as we have had something really good....words like pasta, enchilada, risotto, spaghetti, haka noodles...they all sound so sophisticated, romantic, and grand...like something special...

So anyways when I came upon this recipe of biscotti,  I could not resist trying it out...had been bookmarked it, but kept putting it off only cause I felt the whole process would be time consuming, making of the mix, then baking, waiting for it to cool, then cut it, and bake it again...
But surprisingly it was not that bad...blanching the almonds for this dish took more time, I think :-)...next time around the almonds will go in with the skin....in fact in oldtimes that was how they baked it...and in some modifications they also added some spice...so could try that too.

I saw a couple of recipes, one from Joy of Baking, and second adapted from it..in EasyCooking Blog...both amongst my favourites sites...decided to use that ....and of course as usual I made my own changes...and it turned out FAB !!! ..... using new lingo in the hopes that it will go with the word Biscotti... ha, ha, ha, ha...rather than my usual delicious or amazing...really do have to upgrade my vocab ...since the number of blogs are increasing, am finding it increasingly difficult to come up with new words to compliment the dishes...
Of course would love it if any of my tasters ( subjects ? ) could help with the words...but today after tasting this biscotti...the expression on T's face told more than words...and he went for seconds right away...and that told me that I had a hit on my hands...


Traditionally biscotti is served with a drink, as it is very dry, in Italy it is served as a after dinner desert with wine, and at other places with coffee or tea.

So getting down to the ingredients and method, with my spin on the copy of the original..here it is...

Ingredients:

2/3 cup granulated sugar**
2 large eggs
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 cups of All-purpose flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
100 gms chocolate*
1/2 cup almonds

Method :

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2) Line or grease a baking tray.
3) In a bowl whisk together flour, BP, salt.
4) Blanch almonds, roast, and chop into bit pieces.
5) Chop the chocolate roughly into 1/2 inch pieces

6) In another bowl whisk together eggs, sugar till light & fluffy, then add vanilla extract and mix.

7) Add the flour mix to the egg mix and then add in the chopped nuts and chocolate.
8) The whole mixture comes together like a dough, pat it down on the baking tray in a form of a log.

9) Bake for about 30 minutes or till a toothpick comes out dry.
10) Cool in tray for 10 minutes then on a wire rack till completely cool.
11) Reduce the temperature to 160 degrees C.

12) Cut the biscotti diaganolly in 2 inch wide slices, put the cut side down on to the baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove and turn the biscotti to the other side and bake again for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack and store in airtight container.

Enjoy !!!

* I did not have chocolate so used 3 mini tobelrones - chopped it up.
** I also reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup + 1 Tblsp - instead of 2/3 cup - found it a little less sweet but that is how all of us here like our sweets...

This weekend is going to be a very busy one, my sis-in-law (T's sister ) and her hubby are visiting us from US...and there is also a function ( engagement ) on my side of the family for which a quite a few of my relatives will be visiting...thought that it would be a nice if I could have some made for them .....but the weekend is a long way away...today being almost the start of the week.....so the question is ...will it last till then ???
Well maybe I will make it again...and here's hoping that you do too.