My former co-worker Ed currently has a gig at the White House and he recently invited me and Tom to take a West Wing tour. I will always associate Ed with salted caramel brownies. He was the inspiration for the Brownie Tasteoff of 2011 -- or I suppose I should give credit to his daughter Claire, who was searching for the best brownie recipe. Regardless, I didn't want to show up to our tour with Ed empty handed. I recently got a copy of Tish Boyle's latest cookbook Flavorful, so I thought I would bake Ed a batch of Boyle's "Coffee Almond Biscotti."
The recipe headnote says that because these biscotti are made with lots of butter, they are more moist than the typical Italian variety. To make the batter you cream softened butter with sugar; add eggs, orange zest, and vanilla; incorporate the sifted dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt); and add ground coffee beans and chopped toasted almonds. I didn't have an orange on hand and so I substituted a little bit of orange extract for the zest. You form the dough into two logs, bake them until lightly browned, slice the logs, and bake the cookies again until dry.
I noticed a problem with the cookies when I sliced the logs. The logs were cooked, but the dough was very crumbly. Pieces of cookies were falling off as I tried to move them from the cutting board back to the cookie sheet for the second bake. After the cookies were baked the second time, the crumbly problem only became worse -- I have never made a biscotti with a friable texture like this. I didn't like it. I love biscotti primarily for their dry crunchy texture. These cookies had a texture like a sablé -- but only more crumbly -- which at least in my mind defeats the entire purpose of going to the trouble of making biscotti and baking them twice.
The biscotti tasted strongly of coffee, punctuated with bits of almond. I couldn't taste any orange at all, so I regretted not going to the trouble of buying an orange to be able to incorporate some zest. The flavor didn't bowl me over. I feel bad that not only did I deliver Ed a box of sub-optimal baked goods, but also they were so fragile that for all I know the neatly packed box might have been reduced to crumbs by the time he opened it. Next time, he's getting some salted caramel brownies!
Recipe: "Coffee Almond Biscotti" from Flavorful by Tish Boyle.
Previous Posts:
The recipe headnote says that because these biscotti are made with lots of butter, they are more moist than the typical Italian variety. To make the batter you cream softened butter with sugar; add eggs, orange zest, and vanilla; incorporate the sifted dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt); and add ground coffee beans and chopped toasted almonds. I didn't have an orange on hand and so I substituted a little bit of orange extract for the zest. You form the dough into two logs, bake them until lightly browned, slice the logs, and bake the cookies again until dry.
The biscotti tasted strongly of coffee, punctuated with bits of almond. I couldn't taste any orange at all, so I regretted not going to the trouble of buying an orange to be able to incorporate some zest. The flavor didn't bowl me over. I feel bad that not only did I deliver Ed a box of sub-optimal baked goods, but also they were so fragile that for all I know the neatly packed box might have been reduced to crumbs by the time he opened it. Next time, he's getting some salted caramel brownies!
Recipe: "Coffee Almond Biscotti" from Flavorful by Tish Boyle.
Previous Posts:
- "Wishing for a Dry Spell: Toffee Mandelscotti," November 2, 2015.
- "The Softer Side of Biscotti: Banana Bread Biscotti," June 11, 2015.
- "Ginger Five Ways In Two Cookies: Triple-Ginger Pecan Biscotti and Ginger Bites," December 20, 2014.
- "Aloha, Delicious!: Gingery Macadamia Biscotti," January 7, 2014.
- "I'm Nuts About These Cookies!: Toasted Hazelnut-Almond Biscotti," July 21, 2012.
- "Biscotti Revisited: Hazelnut Cinnamon Chip Biscotti," June 2, 2011.
- "Time to Raid the Pistachio Stash: Pistachio Cherry Biscotti," June 1, 2011.
- "Munchy Crunchy My Dear Snackers: Savory Cheddar Biscotti," October 2, 2010.
- "The Problem with the Girl Scouts (Chocolate Chip Biscotti)," March 2, 2009.
Comments