Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Lemon Ginger Biscotti. If you love Biscotti, these fabulously flavoured Biscotti are destined to take place as one of your favourite versions!! I confess, I have had a long-standing love affair with Biscotti since the 1980's!
True Biscotti, or "Twice Baked" biscuits, in their very primitive and un-fettered state, are also known as Cantucci. Italian Almond biscuits, originating in Prato, Tuscany . . . they are twice baked, oblong shaped, and beautifully dry and crunchy. Meant for dipping in sweet wine or coffee.
There are of course many versions now, in just about every flavour you can imagine . . . each one as crisp and delicious as the next.
My first experience with Biscotti was in a coffee-shop on the ground floor of my ex SIL's luxury apartment on Young Street in downtown Toronto. She had given it to my husband and I to use for the weekend. Oh, but didn't we feel special staying overnight in an apartment that overlooked Lake Ontario and which boasted a swimming pool and personal gym.
Not that we used either thing. I was far too afraid of breaking anything or putting a foot wrong. There were incredibly famous people living in that building and we were country yokels from hicksville!
We did, however, decide to enjoy a coffee in the coffee shop the next morning and I spied these things called biscotti standing in jars next to the cash register. The cost of each was more than our usual Egg McMuffin from our local Golden Arches, but such was the longing on my face to try something new that my ex bought me one to enjoy with my coffee.
Love at first bite. It was a very simple Almond one, very traditional. I have loved them ever since. Of course back then I had no idea that you could make them very simply in the comfort of your own home and enjoy them every time you wanted to. Progress . . .
These beautiful crisp biscotti are flavoured with plenty of lemon beginning with rubbing lemon zest and sugar together to release the natural oils of the lemon zest. (A trick I learnt from Dorie Greenspan.)
More lemon flavour comes from the use of Lemon Extract, as well as vanilla. Vanilla and lemon are perfect partners . . . but . . . . add ginger to the mix, and you have a true marriage made in heaven!
There is plenty of lemon zip from the use of chopped candied ginger in the cookies themselves as well as powdered ginger. Add to that the nutty moreish crunch of toasted walnuts . . . and yes, do toast your nuts before baking.
I always toast my nuts before baking with them. This simple singular step enhances the nuttiness of any nuts in your baked goods. Unbelievable that such a small act would make such a big difference, but trust me on this. Not necessary, but once you have tasted the difference, you will always be toasting your nuts first. Trust me on this.
The original recipe comes from a little book I have entitled "The 50 Best Biscotti Recipes," by Barbara Karoff. Its not an expensive book and is filled with many gems worth baking. If you love Biscotti, you need this book. Its been around since 1995.
The melted semi-sweet chocolate dip and tinly accent of a thin sliver of perserved ginger are my own idea and finished these beautiful biscotti off beautifully.
Lemon Ginger Biscotti
Yield: 24
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 35 Mtotal time: 45 M
Crisp and moreish with plenty of lemon and ginger spark!
Ingredients:
- 95g sugar (1/2 cup)
- 60g butter, softened (1/4 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1 large free range egg
- 125g chopped candied ginger (1/2 cup)
- 115g chopped toasted walnuts ( 1 cup)
- 210g plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Optional finish:
- Melted semi-sweet chocolate
- finely slivered pieces of preserved ginger
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line several baking sheets with baking paper. Set aside.
- Rub the sugar together with the lemon zest until very fragrant. Cream together with the butter. Stir in the lemon and vanilla extracts and then the egg. Stir in the crystallized ginger and nuts. Sift ogether the flour, baking powder and ginger. Add to the creamed mixture mixig all well together. Divide in half and shape into two logs about 1 inch in diameter and 8 inches long. Place onto one baking sheet. Leave plenty of space between and flatten slightly unil it is 2 inches wide.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and firm. Remove to a rack to cool for about 5 minutes. Cut into diagonal slices, 3/4 inch thick.
- Place onto both baking sheets, cut sides down, leaving plenty of space between each biscotti. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Cool completely on a rack.
- If desired dip one side in chocolate and lay a thin sliver of preserved ginger on top.
Aside from the gorgeous moreish crunch of biscotti, another thing which I love about Biscotti is that they are so simple to make and bake. Two logs, bake, slice and bake again until crisp . . . couldn't be simpler or tastier.
I think Pizza is one of my all time favourite food groups, so when I saw a recipe for Pizza Muffins on the Donna Hay site a while back I put it on my "to bake" list! They really appealed to me, however I did not want twelve muffins, so I have small batched it!
The muffin now makes only six delicious, flavour-filled, cheesy muffins. I also adapted the recipe a tiny bit because . . . how could I not? I just have to fiddle with things. I can't help myself.
I will put my hand up at the start and let you know, yes . . . I AM one of those miscreants that thinks ham and pineapple are good on pizza! I do not apologise for that fact. We are all different!
Her recipe had pineapple, ham and a bit of tomato paste in it, but that didn't shout pizza to me, so I added some Italian Garlic Seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese, along with the regular cheese. (Now we're talking!)
What is pizza without those two things??? You need some Italian herbs and some garlic on a pizza and Parmesan cheese . . . it is like a Pizza's best friend!
I didn't get really high crowns like I usually do on my muffins. The cheese on top probably hampered their growth. If you look at her recipe and photo, you will see that hers don't have high crowns either. In fact she baked hers in little paper loaf cases.
I did not bake mine in paper cases. I buttered my medium sized muffin tins really well instead. I have had too many things like pineapple and cheese stick to paper cases and I did not want that to happen.
It was a good call as they did not stick and I ended up with lovely crusty sides and bottoms, which contrasted well with those lovely light insides.
Adding the Italian Seasoning was another good call as I think they would have been rather bland without it. In fact if I make them again I will up it to 3/4 tsp rather than 1/2.
Make sure you cut your ham into a tiny dice. I did it 1/4-inch which is very easily done. Just cut the ham into strips, stack them and then cut crosswise into the dice.
I think you could up the ante as well by adding a few other pizza ingredients, such as chopped olives or/and red onions, or peppers. You could use crumbled crisp bacon instead of ham if you wanted to.
Leave out the ham and pineapple and use chopped pepperoni and peppers! Onions . . . peppers!
I think you could really make these over the top delicious by adding a few extras!
We enjoyed these warm with a nice salad for lunch! (Italian dressing of course.) They would also go very well with soup!
Pizza Muffins (small batch)
Yield: 6 muffins
prep time: 9 Mcook time: 30 Mtotal time: 39 M
These are light and delicious and filled with lovely flavours. Ham, pineapple, plenty of cheese, some herbs and a bit of tomato. Scrumptious! They make a lovely light lunch!
Ingredients:
- 225g self rising flour (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic Italian seasoning
- 75g chopped ham (about 3 ounces)
- 75g crushed pineapple, well drained (1/3 cup)
- 1 TBS tomato paste
- 1 large free range egg
- 125ml milk (1/2 cup)
- 80ml vegetable oil (1/3 cup)
- 90g coarsely grated strong cheddar cheese, divided (3/4 cup)
- 1 TBS grated parmesan cheese
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 6-cup nonstick muffin tin really well. Set aside.
- Stir the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning and 60g (1/2 cup) of the cheese ogether in a bowl. Stir in the ham, mixing all together well.
- Whisk together the oil, tomato paste, egg, milk, and pineapple to combine. Add all at once to the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. Divide between the six prepared muffin cups.
- Mix together the parmesan cheese and the remaining cheddar. Sprinkle over top of the batter in the tin.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of one comes out clean.
notes:
You can easily make your own self rising flour. For every cup of pain/allpurpose flour add 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt.
What kind pizza toppings are your favourite? I love pizza with everything on it . . . Italian sausage, mushrooms, peppers, onions, pineapple, ham and plenty of cheese!
Growing up we were always aware of my mother's cousins in the states Lydia McNayr. I think she was probably my mother's second cousin, first cousin to my maternal Grandmother.
She and her husband Austin had been very good to my mother's family during the great depression. They (like a lot of Maritimers) had moved down to the New England States of America to find work and had been able to prosper there.
She and her husband used to ship home boxes of clothing and other things to my mother's family which they were most appreciative of.
Once mom got married and had a family Lydia continued to send gifts to us children every year. They were highly unsual things.
One year it was glow in the dark pictures of the Lords Prayer. This picture hung over my bed and watched me during my sleep the whole of my childhood.
Another time it was crepe paper butterflies made with clothespins and pipecleaners. They decorated the curtains in my sister and my bedroom for a long time.
There was also pin cushions that looked like chairs, made from tin cans, all cut and twisted and painted to look incredibly ornate. These simple gifts meant the world to us to say the least.
We never got to meet her or her husband but we always felt that we knew them, partly from the gifts that she would send and also through the stories my mother would share of her.
I wish I had written some of them down. There is an old, old photograph of she and her husband visiting way back when.
Its black and white and not very clear. She is the first lady on the left in the back row, standing next to my maternal grandmother. I wonder what she would think of me baking her cookies all these years later?
This is cousin Lydia's cookie recipe. It goes back many years. The original recipe was shared to my grandmother and then to my mother and was handwritten on the back of an envelope. No instructions, just ingredients.
That's how recipes came to you in those days. It was taken for granted most women knew basic skills like cooking and baking.
Mom never baked homemade cookies very often, but when she did sometimes it was these. They are wholesome and old fashioned . . . almost like little cakes.
Not greasy and filled with the homey flavours of warm baking spices . . .
Cinnamon, ginger . . . nutmeg . . .
They are also flavoured with molasses and brown sugar and studded with lots of raisins and toasted nuts.
I had not made them in a very long time. The original recipe made a LOT of cookies.
Today I small-batched the recipe and made just two dozen and even that is a lot for us. But what a wonderful taste of my childhood!
These are the kind of cookies you would enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk, or if you are a tea drinking person, a hot cuppa!
Like Lydia, I too flew far away from my Nova Scotia roots. Every so often I do like to enjoy one of these old fashioned family recipes.
Eating one of these cookies is like having a warm hug from the past . . .
They are old fashioned . . . the country cousin of the toll house I expect . . . made from simple ingredients that most cooks might have had in their larders in the old days.
The original recipe called for the use of shortening. Today I used butter instead of shortening as we are trying to stick to more natural fats when we can.
The house smells so homey and beautiful when you bake these cake-like cookie treats! Today, these were a most enjoyable taste from the past.
Lydia's Junior Cookies (small batch)
Yield: 24
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 10 Mtotal time: 20 M
These delicious old fashioned cookie are filled with lovely warm baking spice flavours and lots of raisins and nuts. Sweetened with down home molasses and brown sugar. You just know these are comfort food cookies.
Ingredients:
- 275g plain flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/3 tsp ginger
- 60g butter, softened (1/4 cup)
- 75g soft light brown sugar (1/3 cup, packed)
- 60ml molasses (1/4 cup)
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 60ml milk (1/4 cup)
- 75g raisins (1/2 cup)
- 60g chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/ 350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a couple of baking sheets with baking paper. Set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
- Cream the butter together with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and the molasses. Beat in the milk and then stir in the flour mixture to give you a nice stiff batter.
- Drop by heaped TBS onto the baking sheets, leaving two inches between each cookie.
- Bake for 10 minutes, until set and just beginning to brown.
- Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
I really do wonder what Lydia would think of her recipe being baked on the other side of the ocean all these years later?
I wonder . . . . or even that some thirty odd years after her death, a little girl who was comforted all of her childhood by a glow in the dark Jesus would still be enjoying them and thinking of her while she did.
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