dinsdag 14 oktober 2008

TWD: Lenox Almond Biscotti


For this tuesday Gretchen of Canela & Comini selected Lenox Almond Biscotti. The recipe can be found here.

Before this challenge I had had biscotti at several places and liked it somewhat, but I for some odd reason I wasn't really excited about making them. So I procrasinated untill it was Sunday late afternoon and started baking.

I added cinnamon to my dough, because I just love cinnamon!! I love it!! I love it so much that I usually double the amount of cinnamon that goes into my apple pies just to make it taste more like cinnamon. So for me it made sense to add a complete teaspoon of cinnamon.


Because I have such a tiny oven I had to bake one log at a time. Will my first log was in the oven I found out that I accidentally subbed the yellow cornmeal with bulgur.... No biggie, everybody makes mistakes, don't they? I mean, the packaging of the cornmeal and bulgur ar so much a like, right? Right? NO, THEY ARE NOT!! IDIOT!! Yes, the packaging is both coloured with red, bur you can still easily see the difference between the cornmeal on the left and the bulgur on the right!!

With no eggs left in the house I decided to take my chances and see what the biscotti would be like. The taste was actually OK, but the texture of the biscotti was way to grainy: the bulgur had remained as tiny little hard granules. I took them to work and all though they were nog to my liking, my coworkers actually liked them. Some even came back for another one!! But me being a perfectionist, I just knew I had to make this recipe again, with the cornmeal added this time!


Before putting the logs into the oven I sprinkled some sliced almonds on top of them. With this recipe the logs have to be baked twice: first for 15 minutes, then cool down, cut them and then bake for another 15 minutes. With mine I found that the logs spread out a lot: they doubled in with and needed almost 30 minutes for the first bake instead of the indicated 15. While the first log was in the oven I put the second one in the fridge, to prevent Senna (my cat) of nibbling on it.


A tip from Linda of Tender Crumb was to spray the log wet when cutting it into strips so it wouldn't crumble as much. This worked really well!!


Now, after the second bake of the second batch I can finally say it's all worth it: these biscotti taste great!! They will defenitely be made again!


ATTENTION: For those of you still wanting to join Tuesdays with Dorie, hurry up: the closing date is 31 October, after that date they will no longer accept new members.....

Now it's time to introduce my sweet pets to you all, here they are:

Senna, my 2-year old cat who loves to lay about, take everything in, sneak herself into the background of pictures, food and taking naps

Scott, my 6-year old Border Collie who loves to play, eat, sleep, play, eat and play!

Update: my coworkers preferred the non-bulgur biscotti over the bulgur biscotti, big surprise!! Hahaha!

25 opmerkingen:

Cathy zei

Your biscotti look wonderful! Bulgur, cornmeal, eh. No big difference! LOL! Glad you overcame that little setback and forged ahead. Your furbabies are adorable!

Engineer Baker zei

Sounds like the second batch was a winner at least - I love the pic of the baked log all spread out.

kimberly salem zei

they look lovely with the almonds on top, great job!

noskos zei

Looks like you did good with your second batch! They all look great.

Jacque zei

Oh now, bulgur biscotti,lol. I'll bet you don't make that mistake again.

Glad you ended up liking them, they look fantastic!

The Food Librarian zei

Love the pets and the biscotti!!! Yummy!

Jaime zei

glad you liked the recipe! your pets are adorable!

NKP zei

Too funny! I accidently put pastry flour into frosting instead of icing sugar the other day. They look alike!
I love the babies, they are so cute. I have a black cat, a pug and a shih tzu.
Glad you ended up with a batch that you liked. Cinnamon would have been very good in the biscotti.

Liz zei

I think you just invented a new cookie: bulgur biscotti! Glad they worked out well the second time.

Judy zei

love the nuts on top -- they do look delicious. Bet your border collie gives you plenty of exercise. Have you done any agility work with him?

LyB zei

I love the idea of sprinkling the log with sliced almonds before the first baking. Your biscotti look delicious!

Carmen Cooks zei

Haha, I'm glad you liked them even though you used bulgur! That sounds like something I would do if I had bulgur around. I'm the kind of person who will accidentally put face cream on my toothbrush if I'm tired enough in the morning. :)

Jodie zei

Looks good. I like the sliced almonds on top.

Susan @ SGCC zei

Your biscotti look lovely! I have mixed up ingredients before myself. It happens to everyone!

Your pets are adorable too! I'm sure that they enjoy all of your efforts! ;)

Kristin zei

I like how you put the almonds on top before baking. Beautiful!!

Sherry Trifle - Lovely Cats zei

Your biscotti are great! Beautiful pets too - I am an animal lover as well.

Cassie zei

ohh, I love almond biscotti and your's looks delicious! Your kitty and pup are adorable :D

Bungalow Barbara zei

Your biscotti are such a lovely brown!

I sometimes wonder how many recipes started with a mistake like yours! Well, maybe bulgur isn't such a good idea for biscotti. But I can't help wondering if some coarsely ground whole wheat flour might be nice. Or some semolina. Hmmm....

natalia zei

Ciao Marthe ! I haven't read the suggestion of wetting the dough so I had problems (both crumbling and spreading ) next time I'll know what to do ! I love your pets and soon I'll show you my four cats ! Dag !

Nancy/n.o.e zei

Way to persevere until you got them just right. And I'm glad that you liked them so much in the end. All that effort was worth it! Your biscotti are beautiful, but I'll take the Border Collie, please.
Nancy

Amanda zei

I was like you, not too enthusiastic to make these. But I agree, very tasty, in fact I am having one with my coffee right now!

Shelby zei

You biscotti look great - I love the sprinkled almonds on top! I also enjoyed meeting your pets!

Gretchen Noelle zei

I love the look of your big biscotti cookie! Glad your enjoyed at least one version - the non bulgur one!

Cakelaw zei

Hey, don't worry, I actually thought that buckwheat was, like, wheat!! Your biscotti look good, and I am glad that your colleagues liked the bulgar ones as well. Love your pets - they are very cute.

AmyRuth zei

Love the almonds on top. Way to go!
AmyRuth