Bake Off 2015 – Week Two: Biscuits
Up next on Bake Off was Biscuit Week, namely biscotti, arlettes and a very over the top biscuit box. I’ve gone with biscotti this week as I’ve been meaning to try them out for some time now. For my biscotti, I went with a pistachio and lemon pairing, so keep reading on for the recipe.
I was always under the impression biscotti were harder to make than they actually are, turns out, they are fairly simple! There are plenty of options in terms of flavours, I think next time, I will try a dried fruit like cranberries or fig, along with some chocolate.
I found a recipe on Food Network for pistachio biscotti and decided to adapt it slightly and add in lemon for a bit of extra flavour. I used the zest of two lemons, but found that the flavour isn’t quite strong enough, so would recommend trying a third.
I found that after the first bake, when it came to slicing the biscotti, mine were fairly crumbly and fell apart. I only lost a few biscotti to the crumble in the end but I’ve been trying to figure out why this might be. There may have been a few reasons for this – either I baked it slightly too long the first time round, or I didn’t let it cool enough before slicing, or my serrated knife wasn’t quite sharp enough. Hopefully I’ll have better luck next time and check my timings a bit better.
Happy baking!
- 130g roasted pistachios, unshelled
- 115g unsalted butter
- 230g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 450g plain flour (and a bit extra for flouring a surface)
- 1tsp baking powder
- Zest of 3 lemons
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees and set aside a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated
- Add the zest, then sift in the flour and baking powder and combine until a dough forms
- Add the pistachios and stir in with a wooden spoon
- Place the dough on a floured surface and cut in half. Shape each half into a log shape, placing evenly apart on the baking tray.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until browned on the outside
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes before slicing into biscotti pieces with a serrated knife
- Place the slices back onto the baking sheet (you may need another at this point), then bake for a further 5 minutes on each side. You don't want to overbake as it will become rock hard and impossible to eat!