Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

I love to bake snacks that can be kept in a glass jar for a few weeks (very optimistic!) and biscotti has a place of honour amongst them. The recipe yields about 36 slices and can be kept for 3-4 weeks when stored in a sealed glass container.

62ml vegetable oil
190ml sugar
10ml vanilla
2 eggs
440ml flour
1,2ml salt
5ml baking powder
125ml dried cranberries
190ml pistachio nuts

Preheat your oven to 160℃ and line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Add the oil and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed until well blended.
Add the vanilla and eggs and beat for another 2 minutes. Set aside.
Add the flour, salt and baking powder to a large mixing bowl and give it a stir to mix.
Run the mixer on the lowest speed and gradually add the flour mixture, allowing time to incorporate between additions.
Remove the bowl from the mixer, add the cranberries and pistachios and mix through with a spatula.
Divide the dough in half.
Wet your hands (the dough is extremely sticky) and shape each half portion of the dough into a log shape about 25cm in length. The logs won’t look wide enough to “become” biscotti, but the mixture will spread during baking and end up being wider than the shaped log.
Place the logs onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 35 minutes.
Remove the biscotti logs from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes.
Turn the oven setting down to 130℃.
Slice the logs diagonally into 1cm thick slices.
Lay the slices flat onto the same baking sheets and dry in the oven for about 50 minutes. Feel the biscotti – it should be hard and shouldn’t give when you press it between your fingers.
Cool the biscotti on a cooling rack before packing them into a glass jar.

Profiteroles

Profiteroles

There is absolutely no “hidden tricks” when it comes to baking perfect profiteroles! Follow the instructions and you will have the satisfaction of perfect fresh profiteroles on your teatime table.

250ml boiling water
125ml butter, cubed
250ml cake flour
2,5ml salt
4 eggs
80g dark chocolate, melted
1 batch crème pâtisserie (search this blog for the recipe)

Preheat your oven to 190℃ and line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Pour the water into a cast-iron/heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to a rapid boil.
Add the cubed butter and stir until melted.
Add the salt to the cake flour and then add it all to the saucepan with boiling water-butter, at once.
Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together in a ball in the centre of the saucepan.
Take the saucepan from the heat and add the eggs, one at a time.
Beat the mixture well. The egg should be completely incorporated before you add the next one. This is a real arm workout but do try and work quick as you need the steam from the heat!
Spoon a heaped teaspoon of the mixture on to the prepared baking tray, leaving enough space in between as the profiteroles expand quite a lot while baking.
Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn the oven temperature down to 160℃ and bake for another 20 minutes.
Take the tray from the oven and immediately slit a small sharp knife into the bottom of each profiterole, making as small a cut as possible, for the steam to escape.
Cool completely on a cooling rack.
Cut the profiteroles open and fill each of them with crème pâtissière (search the recipe on this blog: Custard Buns) or whipped cream.
Spoon some melted chocolate on to each filled pastry and set aside for the chocolate to set.
Serve with a smile!