Almond-Orange Biscotti

Continuing with my biscotti challenge, here's the recipe for April.

(I really hope I'm not sick of biscotti by the end of this year!)  

My previous two recipes were made using butter, but I came across many recipes online that used no butter at all or used olive oil instead. Since I've been making these so often, I wanted to try and make some lighter versions too.

So this time around I decided to try an olive oil approach, before attempting to go completely 'fat'-free. I was a bit worried about the olive oil flavour being too strong though, so I used orange zest to counter it and also I used extra light olive oil the first time around. However I have made these with extra virgin olive oil as well and both versions turned out great. 

I am yet to try a recipe without anything to mask the olive oil flavour. Who knows, it might not even come across that strongly. But hey, I have still have eight more months, eight more biscotti recipes. The orange does go really well with this recipe though and I imagine it would be really good with lemon zest too.

(You can find more photos on how to make biscotti here and here.)

Ingredients

2 oz almonds

zest of 1 orange

⅓ cup caster sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 325⁰F.
2. Place the almonds on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then chop them up and set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, add the caster sugar, olive oil, orange zest* and egg, and beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes.
5. Sift together the flour and baking powder and stir into the wet ingredients.
6. Turn the biscotti dough onto a greased and lined baking tray and form into a log shape, about 2 inches wide, an inch high and 10 to 12 inches long.
7. Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
8. Remove the biscotti log from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 290⁰F.
9. When the log has cooled, slice it into ½-inch slices.
10. Place the sliced biscotti back onto the baking tray and bake for 20 minutes, then turn the biscotti over and bake for another 20 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

(*You can zest the orange using a microplane or fine grater, or you can remove the orange peel using a vegetable peeler, making sure to use only the orange zest and none of the white pith. Grind together the peel and sugar in coffee grinder, as I did here, before adding it to the rest of the wet ingredients.)

Chocolate-dipped Orange Pistachio Biscotti

Now that I know that biscotti is not at all hard to make and since it disappears very quickly in my house, I have been making it quite frequently. I may even have developed a bit of an obsession.

Anyhow since I've been baking a batch every few days, I thought I might do a biscotti recipe every month for the rest of this year. I feel like I'm jinxing it just by saying it, but hopefully I'll stick with this challenge of sorts I've set for myself.

So here's the recipe for March. It's inspired by Lindt Passion Orange & Pistachio milk chocolate. My mother brought some back from America and I haven't been able to get my hands on any over here since that one bar finished.

After my first bite, I thought this flavour combination would be great to bake with (because that's how my brain works) and I have been trying for a while to find a way to use it somehow; this seemed like the perfect way to do it.

You may not think so, but these flavours work incredibly well together and the result is an irresistibly delicious cookie; fresh orange and rich pistachios set in crunchy biscotti, finished with off with a little dip in your favourite kind of chocolate.

Ingredients
⅓ cup caster sugar
zest of 2 oranges
2 oz butter
1 egg
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 oz pistachio nuts

2 oz chocolate, melted (I used Cadbury Bourneville but use whatever you prefer)

1. Preheat the oven to 325⁰F.
2. Place the pistachios on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes. When the nuts have cooled, chop them up.
3. Zest the oranges, either using a microplane, or by using a vegetable peeler to remove the orange zest. If using a vegetable peeler, then grind the peel together with the sugar first, as I did here.
4. Add the sugar and zest to a large mixing bowl, add the butter and beat with an electric beater for a few minutes until the mixture is light and creamy.
5. Add the egg and beat until well combined.
6. Sift together the flour and baking powder and stir into the butter mixture.
7. Stir in the chopped pistachios.
8. Form the cookie dough into a log shape, about 1 inch high and 10-12 inches long, on a greased baking sheet lined with wax paper.

9. Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 300⁰F.
10. When the log is cool enough to handle, cut it into ½-inch slices.

11. Place the biscotti back onto a baking tray (greased and lined) and bake for 20 minutes, then turn the bisxotti over onto their other side and bake for another 20 minutes.

12. Remove the biscotti from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
13. When the biscotti has cooled completely, dip them in the melted chocolate and place on a tray lined with foil or wax paper. (When the chocolate starts to run out and is no longer enough to dip the biscotti in, just use a knife to spread remaining chocolate on the rest of the biscotti.)
14. Place the baking tray in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

Orange Loaf

This delicious citrus-scented cake is a new favourite of mine. I have made it three times in less than a month and it has been a big hit.

It's simple to look at but packed with orange flavour; there's zest, there's juice and there's marmalade.

Now there is always marmalade at my house but if you don't have any it's totally optional  I've made this loaf with two tablespoons, with one tablespoon and with no marmalade at all and each time it's turned out great.

The glaze icing isn't essential either but it does look pretty. I think an icing with blood orange juice would be quite nice too.

Citrus season is on its way out and I suppose this recipe does come a bit late, but oranges are still around so there's time to make this cake yet.

Orange Loaf
½ cup caster sugar
zest of 2 large oranges
1 tablespoon flour

½ cup brown sugar
4 oz butter, softened

2 eggs

1½ cups flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1-2 tablespoons marmalade (optional)  

¼ orange juice
⅓ milk

Orange glaze icing (optional)
½ cup icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon orange juice
½ teaspoon water

1. Preheat the oven to 350⁰F (180⁰C).
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder, and set aside.
3. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the orange zest, making sure not to get any of the white pith.
4. Place the zest, 2 tablespoons caster sugar and 1 tablespoon flour in a grinder...

...and grind until you have a grainy paste.
5. Add the remaining caster sugar, brown sugar and orange peel paste to a large mixing bowl. 

6. Add the butter and beat for a few minutes until the mixture is light and creamy.
7. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each one.
8. With the mixer on low, or using a large metal spoon or rubber spatula, mix in 2 heaped tablespoons flour and the marmalade (if you are using it). Then add the orange juice, then half the remaining flour mixture, then the milk and then finally the remaining flour.
9. Grease and flour a 8x4 inch loaf pan and line with wax paper. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven.
10. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
11. Remove from the oven and, after 10 minutes, turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the glaze icing:
12. Mix together the icing sugar, orange juice and water. When the loaf has cooled, drizzle the icing over the top.

Creamy Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Mushrooms

I haven't been able to bake as much or post as often as I'd like in recent weeks, what with work and a lack of photography equipment. So for now this simple recipe will have to suffice.

I suppose this doesn't result in the healthiest meal option but there's nothing like a comforting bowl of pasta when you've had a long day.

When I was studying for my Master's degree in England, pasta became much more of a staple of my diet. Quick and easy, sometimes I'd stir in store-bought tomato sauce or occasionally pesto from this amazing local deli. You can always create some kind of pasta dish with what you have lying around.

One afternoon I threw this together with whatever I had on hand at the time and it's become a favourite ever since.

200g/7 oz pasta (I used pennette rigate)
275g/10 oz cherry tomatoes*, halved
150g/5 oz mushrooms, sliced (I used fresh but you can use canned as well)
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (or Italian herb seasoning)
150-200ml cream
Cooking oil
Salt and pepper
(*If you don't have cherry tomatoes, use roughly chopped regular tomatoes)

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. In a pan, heat a few tablespoons of cooking oil and a knob of butter, then add the mushrooms and saute for a few minutes until they are cooked through. 
3. Add the cherry tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Stir.
4. Add the cream and the pasta, mix well and cook until heated through.
5. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Almond Biscotti

I love biscotti.

I love the crunchy texture.

I love the shape.

I love that it's designed to be dunked (traditionally the Italians serve it with wine, but it's tea for me).

I've wanted to try and make biscotti for a long time, probably ever since I had my first bite.

It always seemed like something that was hard to get right at home though.

A few weeks ago I finally decided to give it a go. I combed the internet for recipes and after a lot of research I finally came up with one of my own.

Turns out homemade biscotti is not hard at all.

I made these on a particularly cloudy, rainy weekend and because of electricity trouble I had to move my mixer from the kitchen to the floor of my sister's bedroom.

That didn't stop me though and in the end all the running to and from kitchen and bedroom was worth it.


Almond Biscotti

2 oz butter
⅓ cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
½ tsp vanilla
2 oz almonds, finely chopped

Optional: 2½ oz chocolate, melted (I used Cadbury Bournville, but use your favourite kind)

1. Preheat the oven to 325⁰F (160⁰C).

2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.

3. Beat in the egg.

4. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixing bowl, add the salt and stir to combine.

5. Mix in the chopped almonds and vanilla.

6. Form the dough into a log shape on a greased baking tray lined with wax paper. The log should be about about 1 inch high, 2 inches wide and 10 to 12 inches long.

7. Bake for about 25 minutes.
8. Remove the tray from the oven and turn the temperature down to 300⁰F (150⁰) and let the the log cool for a while. When it is cool enough to handle, slice the log either diagonally or across, using a sharp knife, into 1/2 inch slices. (It's best to use a ruler for this to ensure the slices are uniform and they bake evenly.)

(The picture on the left is from an older batch.)

9. Place the biscotti on the baking tray, lined with wax paper or a Silpat (as shown below)...

... and bake for 20 minutes. Then turn the biscotti over onto their other side and bake for another 20 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

If you are using chocolate:
11. Place a large tray lined with wax paper or foil in the freezer.
12. Add the chocolate to a bowl and place the bowl on a saucepan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl shouldn't touch the water).
13. When the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from the saucepan. Let the chocolate cool a little and remove the tray from the freezer. Dip the biscotti in the chocolate and place on the cold tray.
14. When all the biscotti has been dipped in chocolate, freeze for 5 to 10 minutes until the chocolate is set. Store in an airtight container.

Cheesecake Brownies

When someone calls a dessert 'sinful', this is what they mean.

It means that you take two desserts that are sufficiently rich and indulgent in their own right and you go ahead and put them together anyway. What you end up with is something that may feel like a bit too much but you also can't seem to get enough.

These cheesecake brownies manage to pack a ridiculous amount of deliciousness in just one 2-inch square. The recipe is from David Lebovitz's blog, one of my favourites. He's the guy to go to if you need dessert advice or inspiration.

His recipe called for swirling the cream cheese mixture into the brownies but I decided to spread it evenly on top of the brownie batter. The result is a dense fudgy brownie topped with a rich creamy cheesecake layer.

You can also use your favourite brownie mix to make these. I baked mine in an 8-inch square pan, but if you make yours in a larger pan you can still use the same quantities for the cheesecake topping, you'll just end up with a thinner cheesecake layer. And you'll have to adjust the baking time.

David mentioned that these brownies could be frozen. That's a good idea, I thought, better to freeze some of them for later.

Yeah, right.

They didn't stay in the freezer for even a day.

Cheesecake Brownies

adapted from David Lebovitz

Brownie layer:
3 oz unsalted butter*
4 oz dark chocolate
⅔ cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

Cheesecake layer:
8 oz cream cheese
1 egg
⅓ cup caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

(*If you use salted butter then omit the salt from the recipe.)

1. Preheat the oven to 180⁰C (350⁰F).
2. Add the butter and chocolate to a large glass bowl and place the bowl on a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir occasionally until the butter and chocolate have melted, then set the mixture aside to cool.
3. When the butter-chocolate mixture has cooled, stir in the sugar.
4. Add the beaten eggs and stir until well combined.
5. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl, add the salt and coffee and mix well.
6. Grease a sheet of foil and press it into an 8-inch square baking pan. Spread the brownie mixture evenly in the baking pan.
7. For the cheesecake layer: Add the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes.
8. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie mixture, spread evenly and smooth the top.
9. Place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and allow the brownies to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for about 4 hours or overnight before slicing. Remove the brownies from the pan by lifting the foil out. Gently peel the foil away and then cut them into squares.

Makes 16 brownies.

Pharingbath

Our holiday in Skardu became a longer one than we had planned because of bad weather and flight delays. However, had we not been stuck there for a few extra days we may never have discovered this wonderful dessert, which we were served after our last lunch at The Shigar Fort Residence. It's called Pharingbath (pronounced 'faringbath') and the chef was kind enough to share the recipe with us.

Apricots, fresh and dried, are abundant in Skardu and we had already sampled the rich apricot mousse in Khaplu. However, this dessert, served with cream, was so different from anything else we had eaten. It's luscious and sweet but, at the same time, it's not too heavy.

It is also surprisingly easy to make.

This Pharingbath was made with apricots we brought back with us. You need to take care that you buy sweet dried apricots, not the sour kind.

Pharingbath

1 kg dried apricots, without stones
Water, as needed
Chopped walnuts and almonds
Cream, to serve

1. Add the apricots to a pot and cover with water. 
2. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to low and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally.
3. As the liquid begins to dry up, keep an eye on the mixture and stir more frequently.
4. Mash the cooked apricots a bit with a potato masher, then strain the mixture. 
5. Cool the dessert to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator.
6. Sprinkle with chopped almonds and walnuts and serve with cream.