Almond & Orange Zest Biscotti

Almond & Orange Zest Biscotti
Sumber & Gambar: Syah Hanny @ RNet



Ingredients:
1 cup (200 g) sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (80 g) slivered almonds
2 tablespoons minced orange zest (about half an orange's zest) (ganti dengan lemon zest)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. (1 g) almond extract 2 cups (250 g) flour.

Methods:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
2. Select a mixing bowl that is large enough to hold all the ingredients and still provide enough room to fold them together without making a mess.
3. Break two large eggs into the large mixing bowl and add the sugar. Whisk to combine.
4. Continue whisking the sugar and eggs until the color has lightened to a pale yellow. To have better biscotti, used electric mixer and beat for 5 minutes.
5. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, orange zest, and slivered almonds to the egg and sugar mixture. Using a spatula, stir once or twice to combine.
6. Working in batches, pour enough of the flour mixture to cover the surface of the egg mixture. Use a spatula and fold in the flour using as few strokes as possible. Add more flour and fold until all the flour has been integrated. Folding is performed by using a spatula to scoop from either the side or the middle of the mixture and lifting and "folding" (basically movign the spatula laterally and then flipping it over to drop the mixture) onto another part of the mixture. Rotate the bowl each fold
7. The key is not to stir or mix the flour with the liquid too much. Gently folding helps prevents the formation of too much elastic gluten. The presence of too much gluten will defeat the delicate and crisp texture we are trying to achieve and result in a possibly chewy product.
8. Split the batter in half and place the two rough balls onto a non-stick baking sheet. With your hands, form the batter into two loaves of approximately 10-in. (25 cm) by 2 in. (5 cm) each. Wetting your hands just a bit may help with molding the loaves since the batter will be fairly sticky.
9. Bake the loaves at 350°F (175°C) for 40 minutes (rotating the pan once after twenty minutes). The loaves should have just started to crack. (Don't wait for big cracks or you might overcook the biscotti.)
10. Remove the loaves from the pan and place them on a wire rack to cool for at least ten minutes. This cooling step is extremely important to your non-dominant hand as it will be holding the loaf while you cut it in the next step.
11. After some cooling, move a loaf to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 3/8-in. (1 cm) thick pieces. Do the same to the other loaf. The interior of each biscotto should still be just a little moist (while the exterior is nice and hard). The crust of the loaf will probably be quite hard, so use a large serrated knife such as a bread knife for this job.
12. Place the biscotti with a cut side facing up on a half sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan and flip all the biscotti over so the other cut side is now facing up. Bake for another 7 minutes. Set all the pieces on a wire rack to cool making sure that none of the biscotti are touching each other. If the biscotti are placed too close together, they could get a little soft or soggy as they cool.

* Nota:
1. Kacang yang boleh digunakan untuk biscotti adalah almond, pistachio & hazelnut and give better result than other nuts.
2. Amount kacang bergantung kepada citarasa masing2 asal jangan kacang lebih berat tepung sudahla...
3. Pistachio sahaja yang boleh berganding dengan dried fruit seperti dried cherries, dried cranberries, dried apricot dan juga cinnamon powder.
4. Hazelnut hanya boleh digandingkan dengan coklat (choc chip / koko).