A Biscotti Moment

My working schedule, and life in general, has kept me a little away from the kitchen this week. So when an unscheduled break came across, I almost litterally ran home to my kitchen, to try a recipe I had in mind for a while: Biscotti.
If I tell you I've been willing to make biscottis for a long time because of the "gilmore girls", it might not make a lot of sense to most people. I'm a TV show addict and the gilmore girls remain one of my favorits. The main characters bring back some biscottis from their trip to Europe, and save them for important "biscottis moments". It's silly, fun, a bit dorky, all the more reasons to like it and to bake biscottis.

You have to give the italians that, when it comes to food, they know how to make simple ingredients into delicious dishes. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't like pasta, pizza might be one of the most popular dish in the world and who can say no to a gelati?
Plus I like the straight forward naming : Panna Cotta, means cooked cream, Semifreddo, half cold and Biscotti, twice baked. Where the french go for religieuse, éclair, opéra, charlotte... more poetic maybe, but also more confusing.

So my biscotti moment was a well deserved break, gazing thru the window with a sun playing hide and seek thru the clouds, looking at the flowers my nieces picked for me. It might not be the most dashing bouquet you've ever seen, but it's beautiful in so many other ways, like those biscottis. Enjoy!

Almonds, Pistachios, Cranberries and Cardamom Biscotti
(based on a recipe from "Kitchenaid 90")

Four about 40 biscottis

300gr of Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
150gr of Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Ground Cardamom
3 Eggs
50gr of Almonds
30gr of Pistachios
80gr of Dried Cranberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of your mixer: the flour, the baking powder, the sugar and the ground cardamom. Combine at a low speed, then add the eggs and beat until a dough forms, this will take about 2 to 3 minutes.

Now add the almonds, pistachios and cranberries and combine all the ingredients. On a floured surface, place the dough and separate it into 2 equal parts. Roll them out to have two cylinders of about 4 to 5 cm diameter, and place them on a baking tray lined with parchement paper.

Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes, it should be nicely golden. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
Now slice it carefully, about 1 to 1,5cm thick, and place on the baking tray again to cook it the second time, for 10 minutes.

Leave it to cool on a rack and keep them in an airtight jar, to enjoy with your cup of tea.