[Yuesang]

Hi everyone

I am almost giving up making biscotti

I have the biscotti baked for 20 mins as a log and rested for 15 mins before starting to cut. The problem is it crumbles and makes a mess of it.
I have tried the chocolate flavour and the orange flavour based on Betty Crocker's recipe book.

Anyone can tell me where I have gone wrong ?

Maybe if I chill the log for 3 hours and have the biscotti cut before baking, will this be better ?

Would be be better if I make the biscotti by pressing the pastry onto the baking tray ?

Any difference in taste and texture between these few methods ?

Will appreciate some help.

Thanks
yuesang

[m brown]

It helps to have the cookie log hot, us a sharp serrated knife and work fast.

[siduri]

i'm new to this forum, so i don;t knwo what went wrong. This is supposed to be a reply to the biscotti posting. I tried once but it didn;t post. here it is again

Biscotti means twice-cooked. So no way you can not cook the loaf, since that's the way they're done. Biscotti also is used just to mean cookies, but it seems the type you're looking to make are the kind they sell in the states, at coffee places. Never ran into them in italy, but anyway. I have a good recipe for what are called "cantucci" or "tozzetti" which are the famous umbrian/tuscan hard cookies with whole almonds which you are served after dinner with sweet wine, for dunking. But these are the real thing.
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup whole almonds
2 tbsp butter
4 eggs
salt 1/8 tsp
cinnamon 1 tsp
1/2 tsp baking soda
mix butter and sugar and 4 eggs - add flour, salt, cinnamon and soda. mix together and add almonds. mix in.
form into 4 or 5 loaves, about the length of a hand and about three fingers wide.
grease and flour baking sheets.
bake till solid but still somewhat soft (though not wet inside).
remove from oven and slice into slices about a finger in width
lay flat on sheets and bake again until hard.
I used to make these for a restaurant in rome and they were a big success. Sorry the directions are so approximate - all recipes here are like that. But it;s hard to go wrong
use a sharp THIN knife to cut them, and always use a sawing motion. serrated is ok, as long as it's a good quality serrated knife with a thin blade, not the usual supermarket thing. otherwise a non serrated sharp thin blade will work

[Yuesang]

Hi Siduri

I will certainly try the recipe you posted and will also try to use a thin blade this time. Will let you know the result.

Thanks for the recipe
yuesang