Biscotti - Learned from a class in Tuscany

 A highlight of our recent trip to Italy was a cooking class here. One of the highlights was the making of biscotti. This recipe is derived from the class recipe, but adapted to ingredients that are easier to source in the USA.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups Granulated sugar

5 eggs (3 yolks - reserve the whites, and 2 whole eggs)

3 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

1 cup whole raw almonds (unpeeled)

pinch of salt

Method

I tried this with "00" flour in one of the experiments. It didn't work well. I actually did a whole lot better with King Arthur All purpose flour. Also the texture was better when I mixed them by hand vs the stand mixture.

Turn oven on to 375F (Fan assist, 400F conventional)

Zest the orange into the sugar. 

Add the egg yolks and whole  into the sugar, and stir with a wooden spoon. 

Combine the flour and baking powder

Add the flour in 6 additions, stirring thoroughly after each addition. It starts off easy, but as you get closer to the end, it becomes quite stiff.

When all the flour has been incorporated, add the whole almonds and mix them in with your fingers.

Tuen out the flour onto a floured bench and form into 3 logs. Each log is about 2 inches wide and 3/4 inch high.

Place the logs onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush carefully with the resereved egg white.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, rotating at 10 minutes . The logs should look like this.

Once they are baked, take them out of the pan and slice on the biias into strips about a finger witdth (1/2 an inch or so). Use a serrated knife for this as you will be cutting through the almonds. A plain knife will tend to squish them.

Place them back on the sheet pan, with a cut side up. Return them to the oven (at the same temperature) for 5 - 8 minutes to dry out and firm up.

Serve with vin santo, red wine, or coffee for dunking.