Earl Grey and Almond Biscotti with White Chocolate Amaretto Topping

To download a copy of the recipe for Earl Grey and Almond Biscotti with White Chocolate-Amaretto Topping , click HERE. 

Long before being popularized by Captain Picard, Earl Grey – black tea scented with Mediterranean bergamot oil - was recognized as a refreshing and flavorful tea with a distinct, wonderful fragrance.

It’s highly versatile too; aside from its primary use for brewing hot or even iced tea drinks, Earl Grey’s lovely flavor and aroma have led to another application among its devotees: as an ingredient in cookies, cakes and other baked goods. In this week’s recipe, Earl Grey lends its special qualities to delicious almond biscotti. (For good measure, we also add a white chocolate-amaretto topping!)

Although, as with most biscotti, Italy’s twice-baked gift to the pastry world, these are very firm textured cookies intended to be dunked in coffee, tea or wine, I’ve been able to enjoy them “undunked” as well.

Some Cook’s Notes before we begin:

• To toast the slivered almonds, spread them evenly in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 350°F, stirring after two or three minutes, until they're lightly browned. Let them cool completely before adding them to the biscotti batter.

• If you prefer, you can substitute almond extract for Amaretto.

• Earl Grey works well because it has both a pleasant taste and a lovely aroma, but feel free to experiment with other types of flavored teas to vary the result.

• The finished biscotti should be sealed in an air tight container. As with anything topped with chocolate, they should be ok if kept out at room temperature. If the room is warm, however, it’s usually best to refrigerate them to keep the topping from melting.

This recipe makes about 46 3-1/4” biscotti.

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the biscotti dough: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 Tbsp Earl Grey tea from tea bags (or 3 Tbsp loose Earl Grey tea leaves); 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 cup sugar; 3/8 firm-cup butter substitute; 1 teaspoon Amaretto; 2 egg-substitute eggs; and 3/4 cup chopped slivered almonds, toasted.

For the topping: 5 ounces white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate bar; 2-1/2 Tbsp Amaretto; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

To make the biscotti dough:

Prepare 2 Tbsp of ground Earl Grey tea, either by cutting open about six teabags or by grinding 3 Tbsp of loose tea leaves in a mini-processor or using a mortar and pestle. (When ground, the volume of the loose tea leaves will be reduced to about 2 Tbsp.)

Chop the toasted slivered almonds into small bits.

Stir together flour, tea, baking powder and salt, and set aside. When properly mixed, the dark flecks of the tea should look evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

Combine sugar, butter substitute and Amaretto in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (about 2 minutes).

Continue beating, adding the egg-substitute eggs 1 at a time, until the mixture is creamy (about 1 minute).

Stir in the almonds by hand.

Gently add the flour mixture just until a dough forms. Be careful not to overwork the dough.

Wrap the dough and refrigerate for about 1-1/2 hours.

To form and bake the biscotti:

After the dough has finished chilling, begin preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Divide the dough in half. Shape each half of dough on lightly floured surface into a log about 12” long and about 1- 1/2-inches in diameter.

Place logs about 4 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon baking pad. Flatten each log to 2-inch width.

Bake until the edges begin to brown, about 25-30 minutes, turning the baking pan half-way for even baking. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes on the baking sheet.

While the logs are resting, reduce oven to 300°F.

Carefully cut the logs diagonally into 1/2-inch slices with sharp knife lightly coated with butter substitute.

Place the slices on the same cookie sheet, cut-side down. Don’t pack the biscotti too tight; there should be enough room for air to circulate. Use two trays if necessary.

Bake for about 9 minutes with the trays staggered to allow for good air and heat circulation.

Turn each biscotto over, turn the trays around and swap the position of the trays for even baking. Bake for another 9 minutes.

When done, the biscotti should be crisp and very light brown on both sides. Place on cooling racks. Cool completely.

To make the topping:

Combine the topping ingredients in the bowl of a double-boiler. (If necessary, you can improvise a double boiler by fitting a boil over the top of a saucepan with some water in it.) Heat over medium heat till melted.

Let stand for about two minutes and stir till smooth.

To add the topping to the biscotti:

After the biscotti have cooled, dip the top (rounded) part of each into the topping to coat.

Let the excess drip from off.

Place the biscotti on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon pad to cool for about 1 hour to allow the topping to set.

To download a copy of the recipe for Earl Grey and Almond Biscotti with White Chocolate-Amaretto Topping , click HERE.

All that‘s left now is to brew the coffee or tea, or pour the wine, and enjoy a delicious treat! After your first biscotto, you’ll be glad you have so many more!

Please visit again next week for another great-tasting, home-cook friendly recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Peachy Quinoa Cobbler with Strawberry Sauce

To download a cookbook style copy of the recipe for Peachy Quinoa Cobbler with Strawberry Sauce, click HERE. [LINK] https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=AACAD5940EB17952!162&authkey=!AFHFpD-nc9EW5gs

Once you experience the unique flavor and nutritional qualities of quinoa, you’ll inevitably want to find other ways to add it to recipes. In last week’s post, we used whole quinoa in a delicious savory side dish salad ("Quinoa Salad with Tomato, Roasted Red Pepper,Pine Nuts and Cherries"). This week, we’ll use it to make flour that will be used in a baked dessert dish I couldn’t resist calling “Peachy Quinoa Cobbler with Strawberry Sauce.” It’s a delicious peach cobbler with a natural sweetness made even better by the addition of the savory quinoa, and topped with an easy-to-make strawberry sauce.

Some Cook’s Notes before we begin.

• If you’re able to buy quinoa flour already made, go for it. Where I live it’s easy to find quinoa, but not quinoa flour, so this recipe describes the simple process of making your own.

• Whether you buy quinoa flour or make your own, use it similar to how you would use whole wheat flour in recipes. If you’ve got a recipe that uses all-purpose flour and want to use the quinoa flour, substitute the quinoa flour for up to half of the all-purpose flour. (Don’t substitute quinoa flour for the entire amount of all-purpose flour; the result will be a heavy-textured baked good that doesn’t rise properly and won’t taste right.) If  your recipe calls for whole wheat flour, you can substitute the entire amount with quinoa flour.

• It’s also possible to buy strawberry sauce to top the cobbler, but I recommend making the one described in this recipe. It’s easy to do and, frankly, tastes better than what you’ll get out of a jar. Aside from its use in this recipe, it’s a great topping to be able to make for a wide variety of desserts.

• Although I normally prefer to use as many fresh ingredients as possible, in this recipe I’ve used canned peaches instead of fresh. The reason for this is that canned peaches have a consistent taste and texture any time of year. Fresh peaches, depending on many factors, can vary from sweet and juicy to dry, overly firm and tasteless. If you do want to use fresh peaches, and find that yours are not the sweet and juicy kind, I’ve found you can make them a little better by soaking them in orange juice before using them.

• In general, fruit cobbler recipes take one of three approaches: putting the fruit in the baking dish and pouring the batter on top; mixing the fruit and the batter and putting them in the baking dish together; or pouring the batter into the baking dish and placing the fruit on top of that, letting the batter rise up around the fruit as the cobbler bakes. This recipe uses that last approach, which I’ve found is how most cobbler recipes are put together.

• As always whenever I use either of these wonderful ideas, a grateful nod to Chef Michael Chiarello for teaching us all the benefits of adding a bit of rosemary when cooking strawberries; and to Chef Alex Guarnaschelli for the simple brilliance of adding preserves when cooking a fruit filling.

This recipe makes a 13” x 9” cobbler.

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the peach filling: 4-1/2 cups sliced peaches; ½ cup peach or apricot preserves; ¾ cup brown sugar; ½ tsp ground nutmeg; ½ tsp vanilla; and 1 Tbsp lemon juice

For the batter: ½ cup AP flour; ½ cup quinoa flour; 1 cup sugar; 1 Tbsp baking powder; ½ tsp salt; 1 tsp cinnamon; 3/4 cup skim milk, room temperature; and 1 egg substitute egg.

For the strawberry sauce: ½ cup sugar; juice and zest of one lemon, less 1 Tbsp of juice used for the filling; 1 pound of strawberries, hulled and quartered; ¼ tsp dried rosemary; pinch salt.

Other ingredients: 3 Tbsp butter substitute; low fat vanilla ice cream for serving

First, let’s make the quinoa flour. (Skip this part if you were able to buy quinoa flour already made.)

Preheat the oven to 150 to 175 degrees.

Soak the quinoa in water for five minutes, then drain and rinse well under the faucet to remove the saponins, naturally occurring resins that can leave a bitter taste. (You’ll need ½ cup of quinoa for this recipe, but since you’re making the flour anyway it’s a good idea to make more and keep it on hand.)

Place the quinoa on paper towels to remove excess liquid.

Spread the quinoa out on a baking sheet and let air dry. To dry faster, place the baking sheet in the oven till dry. Be careful not to let the quinoa bake. (If necessary, take it out of the oven when it’s almost dry and let it air dry the rest of the way outside of the oven.)

Once the quinoa is dry, grind into flour using a spice grinder or coffee grinder and place in a sealed container until needed.

Now let’s get a few things ready and prepare the filling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Juice and zest one lemon and set aside to use as called for in the rest of the recipe.

Combine filling ingredients in a saucepan and mix well.

Bring just to a boil, then remove from the heat. Set aside till needed.

Next, we’ll prepare the baking dish and make the batter.

Put the butter substitute in a 13 x 9” baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Combine dry batter ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the middle, and put in the skim milk and egg. Mix the liquid ingredients till combined.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry until a smooth batter forms.

To prepare and bake the cobbler:

Pour the batter over the melted butter; do not stir.

Spoon the filling on top, then gently add a few spoons of the remaining liquid from the saucepan.

Bake for about 45 minutes, turning the baking dish half-way for more even baking, until the top is golden brown. (During baking, the batter will rise around the filling.)

While the cobbler is baking, prepare the strawberry sauce as follows:

With the heat off, place the sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and mix till combined. Turn the heat on low and heat until the sugar mixture has melted.

Add the strawberries, lemon zest, salt and rosemary, and stir to coat.

Increase heat to medium, and simmer uncovered to thick sauce consistency, about 25 minutes.

Set the sauce aside till needed.

When the cobbler has finished baking:

Let rest until warm. (If it’s necessary to let it rest overnight, cover with perforated foil to allow the steam to vent without condensing and making the cobbler soggy.)

To serve:

Slice the cobbler, and top each piece with strawberry sauce and vanilla ice cream.

To download a cookbook style copy of the recipe for Peachy Quinoa Cobbler with Strawberry Sauce, click HERE.

Easy to make, sweet and delicious to eat, and even just a bit healthy. Now that’s hard to beat!

Visit again next week for another easy, kitchen tested recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)