Here’s another christmassy biscuit…

This time last year my tiny studio turned into a mini biscuit factory. Like my aunts in Austria who bake tons of Christmas biscuits every year I like to carry on the tradition (maybe not as well and in smaller quantities). Unfortunately this year I just haven’t had the time to bake as much (slightly due to the fact that I’ve been baking about 500 biscuits a week at La Cocotte recently) so I came up with this easy but just as delicious recipe.

If you’re having problems finding a gift (or you fancy treating yourself) why not buy some Menu for Hope raffle tickets…you could be in for a chance of winning some once in a life time prizes. And at the same time you’ld be doing something great for the people in Lesotho.

I just want to say THANK YOU to all my readers. Your visits and comments are greatly appreciated (to say the least). I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and munch through lots of delicious dishes. I’ll be tucking into some mince pies and no doubt plenty of other scrummy English things when I get back to the UK.

Chocolate & cinnamon cantucci

240g flour
30g cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
165g sugar
100g dark chocolate, chopped in large chunks
100g hazelnuts
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 160°c. Sieve together flour, cocoa, baking powder and cinnamon. Whisk together eggs and sugar until foamy, add nuts and chopped chocolate followed by flour mixture. Combine, at the end you may need to knead the ingredients together. Divide dough into two parts. Roll each into a log shape. Bake for 35 minutes. Leave to cool and then cut into 5mm slices. Bake again at 160°c for about 15 minutes or until crispy.

So I’ve been baking, cooking and eating plenty the last couple of weeks. I just didn’t get round to photographing it. Taking a shot involves me setting up my “studio”, hoping the sun is shining and having the time to shoot it. Not as easy as it seems. Unfortunately I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my photographs which means less posts. Sorry!

Anyway I managed to set up my white cardboard, table, camera stand (= “my studio”) and the sun was shining today. Perfect conditions. I have a bit of a cantucci fetish. I’ve posted a couple of recipes and I make a big batch at La Cocotte every week. It’s the only thing I still can’t resist eating at La Cocotte.

What I love about cantucci is that it’s a doddle to make. You can add anything you have hanging around in your cupboard. The “spiced raisins” were something I had leftover. Wrapped in a pretty ribbon, they make a perfect gift. It’s one of the only things I risk sending via “la poste” to my friends abroad. Even if the parcel takes a month the cantucci will still taste delicious.

Raisin & walnut cantucci

270g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
165g sugar
100g walnuts, chopped
3 eggs
100g raisins
200ml orange juice
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon

Soak the raisins in the orange juice with mixed spice and cinnamon overnight. Drain any excess orange juice. Sift the flour with the baking powder together. Add all the other ingredients and combine. You may need to use your hands at the end to bring the dough together. Roll into a sausage. Bake at 160°c 30-40mins. Leave to cool. Cut 5mm slices and bake 10-15 minutes or until biscuits are crispy and dry. Makes 40-50

Cantucci: famous tuscan almond biscotti

The last couple of weeks (or maybe months) have been pretty crazy, not just workwise but socially. I seem to be meeting a whole bunch of cool people every week. The obligatory ‘So what do you do in life?’ question crops up within 2/3 minutes of the first conversation. I usually say I bake biscuits, makes things a lot simpler (telling people you’re a food stylist, always involves a lengthy explanation). Then comes the ‘Can you make xxx?’ ‘Yes’ ‘Can you really?’ …and a demand of some proof of some sort.

All this socialising networking (it’s all about who you know, darrrrrrling) has had a few other side effects (less sleep, more make-up to put on in the morning) meaning I’ve resulted into drinking a coffee or two (normally I’m ‘a cup of tea’ gal) to keep me going during the day.

Now for me, a perfect cup of coffee (or tea, even a hot chocolate) must include some kind of dunkable biscuit (here’s a past recipe). And no, you don’t want some kind of pathetic biscuit which will give up on you half way through being dunked. ‘Cantucci’ or often mistakenly called ‘Biscotti’ (which is the general Italian word for biscuit) are perfect dunking biscuits. Crisp and crunchy before ‘the dip’ they handle any kind of liquid well.

If the thought of baking these little dunkable darlings is too much to handle. Pop by La Cocotte. The cantucci go by the name of ‘Biscocotti’ and are sold at 1.50€ a packet .

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite Stop the traffik chocolate entry. Deadline is Tuesday 16th October.

P.S. The absolutely awful pun (I know they are getting worse and worse. I will stop, honest!) is dedicated to a fellow foodie blogger I just met. Who knows, you might see a food blog cook/bake off in the near future.

Dulce de leche cantucci

270g plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
140g sugar

180g blanched almonds
3 eggs
200g Dulce de leche

Mix together all the ingredients apart from the Dulce de leche. Then roll out the dough and spread Dulce de leche on top leaving an 1 inch border. Roll into a sausage (this can be quite messy). Bake at 160°c 30-40mins. Leave to cool. Cut 5mm slices and bake 10-15 minutes or until biscuits are crispy and dry. Makes 40-50

Recette en français

Cantucci de dulce de leche

270 g de farine
1 ½ c. à café de levure chimique
140 g de sucre
180 g de amandes entiers
3 oeufs
200 g Dulce de leche

Mélanger tous les ingrédients sauf que le Dulce de leche. Ensuite, étaler la pâte et mettre le Dulce de lait sur le dessus laissant 3cm d’une frontière. Roulez la pâte dans une saucisse (ça peut être un peu difficile). Cuire à 160 ° C 30 – 40mins. Laisser refroidir. Couper en tranches de 5mm et cuire 10-15 minutes ou jusqu’à ce que les biscuits sont croquants et sec. 40-50 pièces.