Chocolate Biscotti - 5 Times Around

They are indeed 5 of us who conspired to bring you the same biscotti on this nice sunday night. Lisa emailed me the other night asking if I wanted to join her, Yvonne, Brilynn and Peabody in making a chocolate biscotti from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours. I jumped on the project with great enthusiasm as I had been eyeing the recipe for a while now and thought about including it in some of my Christmas baskets.

At the time of this post, I know that Peabody went after my heart by dipping hers in white chocolate, wicked! and Brilynn went all out with a beauiful combinations of all the variations Dorie gives on the sidebar. I went with the recipe as written...with 2 minor changes. A novelty for me which made B. wondered if I was coming down with something! The reason is twofold: I very seldom follow recipe instructions, always adding or changing ingredients depending on what I have on hand, and because I wanted to see what the "base" recipe would taste like before I start using Dorie's suggestions for variations and add-ons.

My changes: I did not use espresso powder but 2 TB of strong coffee and I toasted the almonds before adding them to the dough. See! Minor I tell you!

I made them last night and add a bite as soon as they were cool enough to handle and I have to say I was a little disappointed. There was something missing, a little "Oh Yumm!" moment that did not happen. We just had another cookie after taking some pics and I can say that the flavor greatly improved obernight. They are actually excellent! We did not say two words, sipping or tea, twirling that biscotti in it, enjoying a nice fire.

Chocolate Biscotti, adapted from Dorie Greenspan:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 TBSP strong coffee
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped almonds, toasted and cooled
4 ounces store bought mini bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until pale, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and the vanilla and coffee and beat for another 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients, mixing only until dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the chopped nuts and chocolate.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing. Divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into a 12 inch long logs. Flatten both logs with the palm of your hand, so that they are 1/2 to 1 inch high, about 2 inches across and sort of rectangular, then carefully lift the logs onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle each log with a little sugar.
Bake the logs for about 25 minutes, or until they are just slightly firm. The logs will spread and crack-and that’s fine. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, put it on a cooling rack and cool the logs for about 20 minutes. Working with one log at a time, using a long serrated knife, cut each log into slices between 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick. Stand the slices up on the baking sheet-you’ll have an army of biscotti-and bake the cookies again for another 10 minutes.Transfer the biscotti to a rack to cool.

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Coconut Honey

We just got back from dinner with T&D and I think they were pretty happy with the assortment of goodies I put together: 3 different cookies, spiced nuts, chocolate truffles, homemade marshmallows and this Coconut Honey. The first time I saw the recipe I knew I had to try it as I love everything coconut. My husband B. thought it was a really weird concept but accepted to be my guinea pig, especially when I told him there was no actual coconut thread/flesh in that preserve. It looks funny, sets funny but one spoon on his morning bagel and he was conquered. I tend to give it away for people to try and they always come back for more.

In the spirit of this ongoing series about holiday food gift, here is the recipe for this simple yet luscious spread. I found the original here and adapted it according to the ingredients I could find at the store.

Coconut Honey:

2 cans coconut milk

1 can cream of coconut

600 gr sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 box powdered pectin

Pour the coconut milk, cream and lemon juice in a large pot, add the sugar and slowly heat over medium heat until it boils. Simmer for abut 15 minutes. Stir in the powdered pectin and stir until combined. Boil 2 more minutes. Pour into canning jars. Wipe the mouths of the jars with a clean towel, put the lids on them. Fill a large pot with water, put the jars in it, making sure they are covered with water and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from the water. Withing 10 minutes, you should be able to hear the lid pop inward.

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Vanilla and Lemon Syrup

In two weeks we'll be in my hometown in France and then we will have the chance to visit family, go to Normandy, spend a few days in Paris and spend New Year's Eve with my brother, his family and 4 other couples and their kids. This means that we will miss the holidays here and all the decorations and preparations of Christmas in the US, and some people among our friends and relatives here are getting worried that they won't have any holiday sweets because we are leaving...I knew why they really like me now!

The theme here for the first two weeks of December is going to be centered around food gifts and holiday baking.
One year we had difficulties Christmas shopping for the ones around us I decided to make gift baskets for everybody. Some had a theme like "Girls night in", "Movie Night", "Next Camping Trip",.... Some included a gift certificates to the recipients' favorite store, some a homemade card, sachets, picture frame, etc... People liked them so much that they started asking if I was going to do again early October!
Since we are leaving soon and we are already invited here and there for dinner before we go, I decided to start my food gift giving early and post about the different items I will include. There is nothing like something homemade this time of year!

I liked the color and the flavor of this syrup so much that this is where I'll start. Our friends T&D are new foodies but quickly catching up and they like healthful and balance meals as well as the occasional sunday brunch splurge, so this sauce I found on Cooking Light works perfectly next time they make pancakes or waffles. Not too sweet, with a slight tang from the lemon, great consistency.

Vanilla and Lemon Syrup, adapted from Cooking Light:

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, strained
1 tablespoon light brown sugar

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean; place seeds and bean in a small bowl.
Combine granulated sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla bean and seeds, stirring gently. Cool syrup to room temperature.

Pour syrup and vanilla bean into a glass container. Cover and chill.

Note: Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Yield: 2 1/4 cups

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The Mighty Cranberry...An Ongoing Story

What to do after drying a pound of cranberries? I could have done some trail mix, but we are not big fan. I thought about granola but I knew I would have eaten it all before I could photograph it. I thought about making brioche or panettone and using them in the dough, but I plan on making fruit stollen next week. Wednesday, B. usually stays home in the afternoon, works on bills, lesson plans or grades papers so around 4 - 5pm, we usually sit down for a cup of tea and a slice of cake. I went online and searched for a fairly easy coffee cake recipe since I did not have much time to bake that morning.

This one looked promising with such high ratings, I modified it a bit using dried berries and I added 1/2 cup eggnog (yes, you read right...homemade). I also skipped the nuts for the topping as I am saving them for food gifts I am giving away before we leave for France. Hard to believe I'll be home in 2 weeks!

Dried Cranberries Coffee Cake, adapted from Recipezaar:

1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk, plus
1/2 cup eggnog
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 9 inch springform pan.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk and eggnog, mixing just until incorporated. Stir in the cranberries. Pour batter into prepared pan.
In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients.Cut in butter until crumbly.Sprinkle over batter.
Bake for 45 minutes,until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Turned out to be easy and delicious, perfect after it has a chance to cool completely. It is perfect with afternoon tea.

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The Mighty Cranberry

Well, in this case it was not one solo cranberry that preoccupied my day but rather 4 pounds of the mighty berry!...and I did not even host Thanksgiving dinner. When November comes around and the market stalls are covered with ruby red, plump cranberries and pomegranates I think I lose it. These are relatively new to me as when I left France 10 years ago I knew only of"airelles", a smaller relative (and the only way I had had a pomegranate was in a "grenadine")I have made up for lost time since them and prepared traditional cranberry sauce and used them in upside down cakes and cobblers.

It was about the same time when I visited Tanna's blog and found out she was in the same kind of situation. I first read about her making cranberry juice from scratch and that really (really) tempted me but all of a sudden I saw many Cosmopolitans dancing in front of my eyes and that was not a good sign, it was only monday for crying out loud!

Her second use for them was an absolutely delicious looking coffee cake. Once again, temptation set in but it called for whole, fresh ones and I was not ready yet to use mine like that. I wanted to do something I had not done before and that is when the words "dried cranberries" became embeded in my brain. I use dried ones anywhere a recipe calls for raisins because B. hates (and believe it is a small word), so I go through a pretty (penny) big supply of them, and I had the perfect opportunity to make my own right at my fingertips. A quick search on the internet, a sleepover in the oven and I finally had dried cranberries in the morning and a whole lot to boot!

Oven Dried Cranberries, adapted from VegFamily:

For any quantity: wash and then plunge them into boiling water for 15-30 seconds, just until the skin 'pops.' Stop the cooking action by placing berries in ice water. Drain on paper towels. Turn on the oven for 10 minutes at 350°F. Then place the cranberries on a cookie sheet in the oven, turn off the oven, and let them sit overnight or until sticky and no longer wet. Once dry, they can be kept at refrigerator temperatures for 18 to 24 months or in a freezer for 5 to 8 years.
I used 2 pounds this time.

Still 2 more pounds to go... I have decided to save one pound fresh for something...not sure yet, but all if a sudden this evening I got very thirsty for a Cosmopolitan, and tuesday is closer to the weekend than monday...right?...please say yes! It was my turn to make Tanna's homemade cranberry juice and boy I don't regret it....absolutely delicious. She uses an orange instead of the lemon the original recipe called for, I admit I did not use either and for no other reason that I completely forgot....

Homemade Cranberry Juice, adapted from Tanna:

1 lb. cranberries, washed & drained
1 quart plus 1 c water
cheesecloth
1/3 to 1 c sugar

Cull through the cranberries and discard bad ones.
Place cranberries in a heavy nonreactive saucepan or dutch oven.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cover loosely and simmer 10 minutes until all cranberries have burst.
Line a sieve with cheesecloth.
Pour cranberry mixture through lined sieve. Do not press on fruit.
Pour juice back into pan. Stir in sugar and boil about 3 minutes. The amount of sugar needed can vary, use according to your own taste.
Cool juice before serving.

Heaven....in a cup!

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Sweet Potato and Baby Vidalia Scones

I am really liking all the blog events going on each month and with a baking and pastry blog there are always plenty to chose from. When Zorra started World Bread Day back in October, I had no idea that I would still be looking at participants' entries one month down the line, but there are so many great breads outhere. She came up with the "After Hours Party" event, giving each of us the chance to try somebody else's bread and post about it. I had fun participating again. A couple of weeks ago, she sent me an e-mail about her latest one-off event "Onion Day".... and then I got speechless (yes, it is actually possible!). I was torn: I wanted to participate but I wanted to keep with the sweet/baking theme of my blog.

My mind went immediately into bread baking mode and particularly gravitated toward something that would be sweet enough to have a place here but with a type of onion that would complement it. It was not until yesterday afternoon that I found what I wanted to make when I went to the store and stood in front of my produce guy: "I need a very sweet onion for baking, even sweeter than the sweet Vidalia, help!".
Sunny is the man! He went to the back and came back with a case of baby Vidalia. They looked like big eyed leeks with a sweet and smooth fragrance. I had one of the components... On the drive home I had that light bulb effect over my head and remembered the small container of leftover sweet potato puree wasting its life away in the back of the fridge. What do you do with about 1 cup of the stuff...a Sweet Potato and Baby Vidalia Scone!
Not only did my sweet potato puree did not find a fateful end but I'd get the chance to join the festivities and have a yummy breakfast in the morning!

Although I have a recipe for scones that I love and use almost every week, I tought it was hogh time I tried another one and I now have a second favorite. These came out so tender and you can really taste the sweet potato. I bet they would be good with some bacon in them too. We sliced them open and used them as the base for a couple of poached eggs and that was our dinner last night with a side salad. Delicious!

Sweet Potato and Baby Vidalia Scones, adapted from recipezaar:

2 baby vidalia onion or one small one, sliced or diced
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
In a medium pan, saute the onion until tender, set aside to cool.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium-size bowl; stir in sugar.
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix potatoes and 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter with a fork. Add the onion.
Add dry ingredients and mix to form a soft dough.
Turn out onto floured surface.
Roll out with a floured rolling pin or pat dough with your hands to make a round about 1/2-inch thick.
Cut into rounds with a 2-inch fluted or plain cookie cutter.
Place 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheet; brush tops with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter.
Bake about 20 minutes or until light brown.
Split and serve warm with butter and honey.
Makes about 10 scones.

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