Well, Christmas is coming. I wish All My Readers A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

At this special moment I wish to share my favourite and delightful pastry recipe of both Italian and French cuisine. It’s a Almond Biscotti that perfect designed to be dipped into your best-loved cup of coffee.

Other Italian name of this biscotti is Cantucci. They are hard, high-baked lozenge-shaped biscuits. When moistened, they become deliciously soft and crumbly. In Tuscany, they are usually studded with almonds or other nuts and flavoured with vanilla or aniseed.

Cooking these biscotties I used the Bar method. Finally I got diagonally cut almond biscotti compare to round biscuit shape ones.

If you wish to make a very special salad to your festive Christmas table please see the Fruit Salsa recipe from my French Cooking Blog.

Ingredients:

150 g eggs (2 or 3 depends on weight)

275 g white sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla power

3/4 tablespoon grated orange zest

425 g plain flour

1o g baking power

150g blanched whole almonds

Method:

Mixing:

Combine the eggs, sugar and salt. Stir over hot water to warm the mixture (a sponge method). Whip until thick and light.

Fold the vanilla and orange zest.

Sift together the flour and baking power. Fold in the egg mixture.

Mix in the almonds.

Makeup:

Shape the dough into log about 6cm thick. Dust your hands and the workbench with flour. The dough will be soft, sticky, and difficult to handle, but the log do not have to be perfectly shaped.

Baking:

Bake at 160C(325F) about 30-40 minutes , until light golden.

Finishing:

Let cool slightly. Slice diagonally about 12mm thick. Place slices cut side down on sheet pans. Bake at 135C(275F) until toasted and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Source: My italian cooking