September 6, 2015
Rob
2

Recipe: Cantuccini/”Biscotti”

One of the advantages of living in the south of France near the border is that it takes just one hour by car to go to Italy.

This basically means good food and cheaper alcohol at a hand’s reach! 🙂

And with a slightly longer drive, you can reach some of the best cities in Italy. Considering all the hard work of the last period, I felt like I deserved a long weekend in Florence.

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Florence is one of the main touristic destinations in Italy, with a massive and stunning cathedral with the equally-amazing bell tower by Giotto and the incredible dome by Brunelleschi, the most important museum of the country and the greatest statue of the man which I wouldn’t mind looking like (Michelangelo’s David).

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Incidentally, Tuscany and Florence have also to offer some of the finest food I have ever tasted! The Florentine steak is deliciously famous all over Italy, and I don’t even have to mention how heavenly the olive oil is!

And to finish a nice meal, what’s better than some Tuscan cantucci? (They are also good for break fast) (or afternoon snack) (or anytime, actually). 🙂

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Cantucci, also known as “cantuccini” in Italy, are also known as “biscotti” in English. Weird thing, since “biscotti” just means “biscuits” in Italian, but everything makes sense: cantucci are particular because they are baked twice (bis-cotti = “baked twice”), first in a long cylinder, then cut in pieces and the result is very crunchy.

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The cantucci I bought were so delicious that I ate 1kg in 3 days! :-O But I can’t go to Florence every week, so I decided to bake them at my place. They are quite easy to make (although the batter is pretty sticky!) and they also satisfied my constant craving for chocolate, since I split the batter in two and made a batch with almonds and one with chopped dark chocolate. What else can you ask for? 🙂 A glass of vin santo, of course, the sweet wine in which it is veeery advisable to dip your cantucci in!

 

Cantucci / “Biscotti”

Print recipe

Ingredients

500gPastry flour
375gGranulated sugar
4Eggs
250gAlmonds (or 125g of almonds and 125g of chopped dark chocolate, if you want to obtain 2 flavours)
5gBaking powder
50gUnsalted butter (melted)
10gHoney
1/2Orange zest
1Vanilla bean
1 pinchSalt
As neededGranulated sugar

Directions

1
Place the almonds on a baking tray and bake for 3 minutes at 220°C
2
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, the vanilla seeds, the zest, the sugar, honey and the pinch of salt, then add the melted butter at room temperature
3
Sift the flour and baking powder together, then combine with the egg mixture and whisk until you obtain a thick batter
4
Finally stir in the room temperature almonds
5
Alternative: split the batter in two and stir the almonds in the first half, and chopped chocolate in the second
6
Divide the batter in 4-6 parts and lay them "sausage-shaped" on a parchment lined tray (try wetting your hands to do this, since the batter is very sticky). The cylynders must not be too large/flat and must not be too close to each other.
7
Sprinkle granulated sugar all over the batter cylinders. Bake at 190°C for around 30 minutes or until the biscuits are golden and not soft to the touch.
8
Let the biscuits cool down to room temperature then cut them with a serrated knife into 2cm-wide biscuits and place them with their inner side up on a baking tray
9
Bake again at the same temperature around 5 minutes per side, or until they get slightly golden

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