Scottie's Biscotti

People often ask me "Hey, what are you doing in my garden?"...

No, sorry, start again - people often ask me "Do people call you 'Scottie'?" 
and my usual reply is "Only once..."

For the sake of this recipe I'll make an exception 'cos it kinda works...

Picture the scene if you will....
It's mid morning - you're sitting by Lake Como in an Italian cafe sipping your Espresso* and feeling generally relaxed and at one with all things.  A sailing boat drifts lazily by using the gentle breeze as it's only method of getting from 'Here' to 'There'.  A fisherman is pulling in his net singing 'O-solo-mio' and you can't help but get an urge for a Cornetto, which aren't as big as they used to be and they were only 50p (or am I think of a 'King-Cone').  

Instead of a Cornettos (or King-Cones) the waiter brings you a very hard sweet biscuit which is surprisingly nice dunked in your coffee...  You ruminate on simpler times, when you could just take in the world as it went by... no email... no mobile phones... no download limits and no irritating calls about PPI...  

You drain your espresso, retch slightly because of the crumbs of biscotti you find at the bottom of the cup and commence a slow meandering walk along the shores of this picturesque and unspoilt vista that has seen more history than Nicolas Parsons.  

You wake in the middle of the night, with the sudden realisation that you didn't pay the bill in the cafe -" Oh well never mind", you think to yourself, "I'll pop back tomorrow and tell the manager that his staff need better training.."

A smile makes it's way across your lips as you slip back into your slumber, with images of irate Italian waiters being fired, drifting playfully through your head.

Anyway, here's my recipe for Biscotti - eat it in your kitchen when it's raining and it'll make you feel a bit better. Pics courtesy of Mikey - Thanks Son, although I did have to rotate all of them 180 degrees before uploading any of them.

I'm sure I've got a pic of Lake Como somewhere (or perhaps it's Perry Como..., I'm not sure...)

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• 250g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 large or 3 small eggs lightly beaten
• 100g shelled pistachio nuts
• 150g sultanas (or if you're really posh quartered glace cherries!)
• Zest of one lemon
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• A handful of almond flakes to decorate

Method

• Preheat your oven to 160c /140c Fan...er... gas mark B(?)

• Line a baking tray with baking parchment and grease with a little butter (that's the only real fat in this recipe!)

• Sift the flour, caster sugar and baking powder into a large bowl then stir to combine.

• With a wooden spoon, beat in about 1/2 the eggs until well combined.

• Add the rest of the eggs a bit at a time until you get a dough-like consistency. Note - you probably won't need all of the egg and just add a bit at a time - it's easy to end up adding too much egg and end up with a cake sponge consistency. If this does happen add 20g of flour and 20g caster sugar then mix - add more in 20g quantities until you get it back to a dough-like consistency)

• Stir in the nuts, sultanas and lemon zest until well incorporated (yes I know it's not a lemon in the photo, but actually any citrus will probably do the job...)

• Divide the mixture into two, make them into two 25cm long 'sausages' and place on the baking tray - flatten them slightly.

• Sprinkle on the granulated sugar, then the flaked almonds.

• Bake in the the oven for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Tip: better to over bake slightly rather than underbake and have them all soggy - it makes the next stage a lot easier.

Yes I know it's underbaked...

• Remove from the oven and allow to rest for about 10 mins.

• Turn out onto a chopping board, and using a bread knife cut diagonally through each 'cake' to form 3cm wide biscuits.

• Place the biscuits back on the tray on their sides them pop back in the oven for 6-10 mins.

• Remove from the oven then turn the biscuits onto the other side and bake again for 6-10 mins.

• When baked, allow to cool on a rack.  Tip - if they are still a bit 'soggy' as mine often are because I almost always add too much egg!) pleace the cooling rack with the biscuits in the oven as it cools - it should dry them out a bit.

• Serve with Lavazza espresso* coffee, or with vanilla icecream as a dessert...

Because of the dryness of these biscuits, they will keep in an airtight container for about a week, however I've never had them long enough to check this for certain.

Recipe adpated from James Martin's version on BBC Good Food, although you will notice that I have never once used the word 'poncy'.


 *that's espresso by the way - not bloody expresso!!! - get it right or I'll hunt you down and leave a damp spoon in your sugar...