When life give you almonds…

…….Make biscotti. Especially these beauties. I have a bag of almonds sitting around for the longest time. A mistake buy by my papa. He thought it would be nice to have some almonds around so that he could nibble on them when he was feeling peckish. Well, he thought wrong. He probably ate no more than a handful and left the rest untouched. Then again, I should not comment too much on his behavior since I am pretty much the same too. Perhaps bad habits run in the family too.

Mom commissioned me to use up those almonds before they grow stale. I threw in some chopped apricots as well as mom loves them. They went pretty well with the almonds. I also reduced the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup. With the addition of dried fruits, the biscotti were sweet enough. I flipped through Dorie’s Baking: From my home to yours and decided to make Lenox Almond Biscotti. The dough gave me quite abit of problem as it was really moist and a little difficult to shape. After adding an extra handful of flour and chilling it in the fridge for 15 minutes, it was much easier. Still, I got some misshappened logs that did not look quite promising. I was slightly miffed as I saw some really pretty biscotti done by TWDers. After baking it twice, they turned out looking much better than I expect. I loved mine really crunchy, so I baked it slightly longer the second time round. I think that this is a really adaptable recipe, you can add other types of nuts, fruit or even chocolate. Don’t worry if your dough spread quite abit while baking the first time. They will turn out just fine!

Lenox Almond Biscotti

(Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From my house to yours)   

 

1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal (I used white cornmeal)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup of sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of pure almond extract (I omitted that)

1/4 cup chopped apricots
1/2 cup of sliced almonds (I use chopped)

 

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cornmeal together.

3. Beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for 3 minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs and continue to beat, scraping down the bowl as needed, for another 2 minutes, or until the mixture is light, smooth and creamy. Beat in the almond extract if you are adding. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. You’ll have a soft, stick-to-your-fingers dough that will ball up around the paddle or beaters. Scrape down the paddle and bowl, toss in the almonds and apricots and mix just to blend.

4. Scrape half the dough onto one side of the baking sheet. Using your fingers and a rubber spatula or scraper, work the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. The log will be more rectangular than domed, and bumpy, rough and uneven. Form a second log with the remaining dough on the other side of the baking sheet.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the logs are lightly golden but still soft and springy to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool the logs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.

6. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting board and, with a long serrated knife, trim the ends and cut the logs into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, setting them again on the same sides as before and slide the sheet back into the oven.

7. Bake the biscotti at 175C for another 20 minutes, or until they are golden and firm. Transfer them to racks and cool to room temperature.

Guilty….

I know I shouldn’t be here. In terms of studying, I have been procrastinating more than mugging. So dead…. I promise I will get some serious studying done after this post. Really.

I bought these beautiful candied chestnuts at Isetan Scotts supermarket the other day. They were horribly expensive ($14 / 100g) but tastes really good, albeit a little on the sweet side. They go really well with a cup of chinese tea, and should be taken in small nibbles as it is really quite a sugar explosion in your mouth if you eat it whole. I couldn’t eat more than a few so I decided to chop them up and add them into these lovely cream biscuits, pairing them with some chopped walnuts. The combination turned out excellent, with the walnuts taking away abit of the sweetness and adding a little crunch to the biscuits. They are possibly my favourite combination for now! As these japanese candied chestnuts are probably less commonly found, you can also use normal chestnuts. Just that you probably won’t get the same type of sweetness. Maybe add some honey cashew nuts instead? Let me know your favourite double nut combination

Double nut cream biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

300ml heavy cream, cold

7 candied chestnuts,chopped

1/4 walnuts, chopped

1 tbsp milk or heavy cream for brushing (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 205C.Thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together.

2. Pour the 3/4 of the cream into the flour mixture, mixing quickly with a spatula. Add the remaining cream and stir the nuts. Gather the moist dough into a lump and knead it gently 3 or 4 times until it holds together.

3. If the dough seem too wet, sprinkle in a bit of flour and knead until it comes together. Chill the dough for 10 minutes and allow it to relax.

4. On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a circle about 3/4 inches thick. Using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut out as many biscuits as you can. Brush the surface of the biscuits lightly with milk or cream. Transfer the cut biscuits into a lightly greased cookie pan (or you can use a baking sheet). Repeat the process with the remaining dough scraps.

5. Bake the biscuits for 15 – 18 minutes, until they are tall and browned. Makes 14 biscuits.

Making Your Own Vanilla Extract

I have been wanting to make my own vanilla extract for quite some time. Elvis very kindly got me a bottle of duty free vodka from the airport. I wanted a smaller bottle, but the alcoholic in her prompted her to get the 1 litre bottle. Tsk.

It is really easy to make vanilla extract. Plus point is, you will never run out of vanilla extract again. Just top up the vodka every now and then after you have used it. A suggestion is to pour out the ready vanilla extract into another bottle, and top up the original bottle with more vodka then repeat the whole provess. Real vanilla extract is quite expensive so it is a great money saving method in times like this! There are many different types of vanilla beans out there, and you can use a combination of different beans, or all the same. It really depends on which type you like. Oops. I should be studying now. Ciao!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

1 cup vodka

3 vanilla beans

a sterilised bottle (preferably brown, or wrap it with some paper)

1. Pour the vodka into the bottle.

2. Cut the vanilla beans lengthwise, leaving about 1 inch intact.

3. Place the cut vanilla beans into the bottle of vodka.

4. Keep the bottle in a dark place, shaking it once a week. The vanilla extract is ready for use after 6 – 8 weeks.