April 14, 2014 - Lemon-Anise Biscotti & Spiced Biscotti

Sundays in my family often includes a trip to my grandparents house for a visit.  So of course I had to bake something to take along.  And it just so happens that my grandparents love them some biscotti.  Perfect fit, yet once again something I had never made (there's definitely going to be a trend along those lines throughout this whole journey).  Not to mention, I had some big shoes to fill: my mom makes absolutely incredible biscotti.  Nevertheless, it was time for me to give it a go....and the first batch was an epic failure.  Burnt on the bottom, completely raw in the middle, and way too small.  In the trash it went, and back to the drawing board went me.

There are four recipes in the cookbook for biscotti, but I decided to go with the first one:  Lemon-Anise.  Definitely the most basic and I figured a good place to start.  After go around number two, they came out a success.  I realized quickly what failures I made the first time:  The loaves were not wide or long enough, and I tried the greased pan method instead of parchment paper.  This time, they came out perfect.  Crispy on the outside, slightly chewy in the middle.

I was so proud of them (and since I had a little more time on my hands) that I decided to bake another batch.  But I wanted to try a different kind.  I glanced at the other recipes, and quickly realized I had nothing I needed for two of them (I knew I DEFINITELY didn't have any lavender lying around), but I did just so happen to have everything I needed for the Spiced recipe.  I read the recipe and realized I even had what just enough rum and raisins to kick it up with some rum soaked raisins (which, yes, does follow my rule because it is an optional add in to this recipe!).  Since the raisins needed at least an hour to soak, I took the girl out for a quick walk (as you can see below, she was pretty bored at this point).

So another walk in and I whipped up another batch of biscotti batter.  Using the lessons learned from the first two batches, this one went much smoother.

After the two batches were done, cooled and bagged up I was ready for the verdict: my mom.  She tried one of each and gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up.  That was good enough for me.

 
Two biscotti recipes down and two more to go....I just need to make sure I have some of those fancier ingredients handy (where the heck do you even buy dried lavender blossoms???)