Brussels Farewell Biscotti

There is something about farewells and rain that go hand in hand. The heavy grey skies of Brussels looked down on us as we raced from lunches to dinners to drinks to parties, all in the name of seeing as many friends as we could before leaving. The thick clouds mirrored our mood, reminding us of what we were leaving behind, but the breath of fresh air that came after the dense droplets brought with it the promise of new adventures and new beginnings.

Moments in between were for packing and clearing up, storing things away that we will probably forget about, but could not bear to part ways with yet. Occasionally we slowed down, needing a break from all the excitement, and those pauses were mostly spent in the kitchen. In the kitchens of family and friends, I baked. Because nothing goes better with farewells and rain than baking.

Over a year on the road without an oven had left me craving for that intimacy of being alone in a quiet kitchen with my flour, my butter, my milk. Of knowing that after mixing several of my favourite ingredients together, something magical would appear and release wafts of caramel aromas throughout the home. The certainty in the classic relationship of input and consequence.

So whenever one of those dinners or parties called for something to be contributed, I jumped on the chance to bake. And baked goods always seem to make people happy. Sometimes a proper cake is too fussy to transport or you just want to bring a little something to have with coffee and tea or even give the host an option to keep it for another day. They work great in a picnic basket, potluck occasions or office events. In these cases, there is nothing easier and more appropriate than bringing your own home-made biscotti.

Being half-italian, I have had my share of biscotti, though what we have come to call biscotti In english, tends to refer to what Italians call Cantuccini. The popular tuscan cookies are often served with vin santo (sweet, fortified wine) or coffee at the end of a meal. The crisp, almond cookie needs to be dunked into vin santo to soak up the sweetness and soften up a little. Biscotti, meaning twice-baked, literally translates into biscuit (the english version taking from the french bis-cuit) and nowadays could refer to any kind of cookie, encompassing a much wider range of baked goods. It’s funny watching the eyes of my Italian friends widen when I explain the concept to them. So many people are used to calling biscuits, biscotti, that they don’t even realise where the name comes from. The traditional biscotto, was baked once in the oven in a log-shape, then sliced into smaller pieces and baked again to achieve a golden crust and crunch. Hence, bis-cotto – twice-baked.

I actually find traditional Cantuccini a bit too hard and dry for my taste, so when I found this recipe from The Kitchn several years ago, it became my go-to recipe for party favours and dinner gifts. With some tweaking, these biscotti are incredibly moist and chock-full of flavour. They are also incredibly easy to make and store-well, though usually they disappear in one go when released to the masses.

It was only right, to honour our time in Brussels with a houseful of luscious biscotti flavours, a mix of flour, eggs and sugar for a bittersweet ending to our time in a city we love.

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BRUSSELS FAREWELL BISCOTTI  \ˌbrəsəlz fɛrwɛl biscotti\

Adapted from The Kitchn 

This is one of the most versatile baking recipes I have ever come across. The flavour combinations are limitless, the dough itself contains hardly any fat, you will almost always already have the ingredients right in your kitchen and they are guaranteed to be a hit anywhere you bring them to.

Makes about 25 – 30 biscotti

For the Biscotti 

1/4 cup mild olive oil
2/3 cup of granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 eggs 
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, chopped

Prepare the chocolate, apricots and pistachios by chopping them roughly into about 1.5cm chunks. 

Preheat the oven to 150C. Mix the olive oil and sugar until well blended, then add in the vanilla and almond extract and the two eggs. Mix until well blended, but do not over-beat, the mixture will now be slightly sticky thanks to the sugar and eggs.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add the dry ingredients to your wet mixture until well-blended, it will become quite stiff. Add the chocolate, pistachios and apricots while stirring gently to evenly distribute.

Take baking paper and line a baking sheet. Divide the dough in half and distribute the two halves side by side into log shapes on the baking paper. Moisten your hands with water to help shape the dough into a chunky log of about 30 cm and 10 cm wide. The water will prevent the dough from sticking to your hands and help you mould the logs easily.

Bake the biscotti in the oven for about 25 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes on a cooling rack without removing the baking paper under it.

Turn the oven down to 135C.

Place the logs on a chopping board and slice them into 2 cm slices with a sharp knife. Take each biscotti and place them cut side down on the baking paper and baking sheet. Bake for another 8 minutes until light golden. Cool biscotti on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container with baking paper in between, they will keep well for about a week.

Try out our two other favourite variations so far:

I. Dark Chocolate & Orange 

Replace the white chocolate in this recipe with 1 cup chopped dark chocolate and the add the zest of one orange and one small lime. 

II. Lemon, White Chocolate, Marshmallow & Almond Flakes

Replace the apricots in this recipe with mini marshmallows and about 1/4 cup of almond flakes. Add the zest of one large lemon. 

Any suggestions for your favourite winter flavour combinations?