Pine nut and Marsala biscotti and making a very interesting fairy tale

At the risk of you thinking I have a heart of stone (after I told you I don’t like animated movies) I’ll confess that I’m not into fairy tales, either – I did love Alice in Wonderland as a kid, but then I went to college and learned not so great things about Lewis Carroll, so I never cared for it again the way I used to.

But, same as with biblical stories, attach great people to the project and I’m instantly interested: I learned this morning that Cinderella is directed by Kenneth Branagh – whom I adore both as an actor and as a director – and Cate Blanchett will be the Stepmother – if Charlize Theron kicked ass as the villain in that silly Snow White movie, can you imagine what Cate will do? And directed by Mr. Branagh? There's more: Helena Bonham Carter will be The Fairy Godmother and my bets are that they’re either thinking outside the box here or we’ll see the craziest Fairy Godmother of all time. :D

I’m no stranger to biscotti, as you know, and almond biscotti is something I love – however, when I opened the freezer to get the almonds I noticed I did not have any around. Bummer. But there they were, the two packages of pine nuts I’d brought from NY (because here pine nuts cost a small fortune) just begging to be used. I made the biscotti with the pine nuts instead thinking that they would either be a great idea or a waste of my precious ingredients – luckily, they turned out delicious.

Now what do you think will be the case with Helena? :D

Pine nut and Marsala biscotti
adapted from Dolci: Italy's Sweets

385g all purpose flour
150g granulated sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
3 heaping tablespoons honey
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100ml Marsala wine
120g pine nuts, lightly toasted and cooled – or use almonds as the original recipes calls for

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, honey, eggs, egg yolks, butter, orange zest, vanilla and Marsala. With an electric mixer, mix just until a dough forms, then mix in the pine nuts – dough is sticky, but add a tiny bit of flour if it’s too sticky.
Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and, using wet hands, form each into a 25x5cm (10x2in) cylinder. Place them 5cm (2in) apart onto the baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until slightly golden and firm.
Carefully slide the foil with the logs onto a wire rack and cool for 8 minutes. Line the sheet with baking paper. Using a sharp knife and one firm cut, slice each log diagonally into 1.5cm slices, place them onto the sheet, side by side, and bake for 8 minutes or until golden. Turn the biscotti and bake until golden on the other side as well. Cool completely on the sheet.
The biscotti can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 35

Maple-iced fruity Advent bread

Trying the lime and coconut flavor combo both in cookie and cake form was not the end of my testing around: the apricot, cranberry and golden raisin trio worked out so beautifully in oatmeal cookie form that I thought it would be wonderful to use it again, this time in a yeasted treat: this delicious bread, with a hint of cardamom, comes from one of the best cookbooks I’ve ever bought – and let’s just say that means a lot! – and my husband, after trying a slice of bread, could not believe how tender it was – I did not keep track but I’m pretty sure he said that more than five times. :D

Maple-iced fruity Advent bread
slightly adapted from the beautiful, beautiful Scandilicious Baking

Bread:
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter
2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose flour
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) whole wheat flour
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (72g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon table salt
2 ¾ teaspoons dried yeast
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (60ml) Marsala wine
150g mixed dried fruit (I used 50g each of golden raisins, chopped apricots and dried cranberries)
1 egg, beaten with a fork, to glaze

Icing:
½ cup (70g) icing sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Bread: scald the milk by heating it in a small pan with the butter until it is almost boiling and then leave to cool while you assemble the other ingredients. Scalding the milk makes the finished bread softer.
Place the flours, sugar, cardamom, salt and yeast in the large bowl of an electric mixer (place salt in one side of the bowl and yeast in another, so they’re not close). Add the egg and vanilla, then the warm milk mixture (make sure it’s not hot) and, using the dough hook, mix on medium speed until a soft and sticky dough forms. Mix for 5-6 minutes or until elastic. Transfer to a lightly buttered large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes or so until doubled in size and springy to the touch.
While the dough is rising, pour the Marsala over the dried fruit in a small bowl. Leave to soak for 30-40 minutes, turning the fruit occasionally so they’re all soaked in the wine. Drain the fruit right before adding it to the dough, discarding the wine.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, than add the fruit and knead a couple of times to incorporate and evenly distribute. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a rough loaf shape. Place them about 10cm (4in) apart onto a large baking sheet lined with foiled. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to prove in a warm place for a further 45-60 minutes of so, until the dough no longer springs back: you can test it by gently poking it with your little finger – the indentation should stay put – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Brush the loaves with the beaten egg, then bake for 30-35 minutes until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the base. Cool on the sheet for about 20 minutes, then carefully peel off the foil and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.
When the bread is cool, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and whisk in the maple syrup until thick but still drizzable – add water if necessary. Drizzle over the cooled loaves and set aside for 15 minutes to dry.

Makes 2 loaves

Almond and raisin cake

I love movies with strong female characters – you know I like them complex – and last week, besides Saoirse Ronan’s amazing Hanna, I got to know Jennifer Lawrence’s brave Ree. The fantastic “Winter’s Bone” is another example of the theory I wrote about a couple of posts ago: the story is perfectly told and directed, and the performances are excellent. Jennifer Lawrence, talented as hell, is the back bone of the movie but all the other actors (most of which, I’ve read, are from the area where the movie was shot and had never acted before) are great, too – John Hawkes, brilliant as Teardrop, makes me want to watch “Martha Marcy May Marlene” even more (as soon as it gets here).

Lately I have thought twice before recommending movies to people I know – because most of them turn to me later on to tell me how much they hated them – but I do not feel this way writing on the blog, maybe because those of you reading me for a while now already know the kind of movie I’m interested in. I’m not the romantic-comedy-happy-ending kind of girl. So if you are anything like me I am sure you’ll love “Winter’s Bone”.

***

I baked Flo Braker’s tea almond cake a couple of weeks ago and after that I started obsessing with almond cakes in general (the one on “Tartine” is next on my list); therefore, when I saw this almond and raisins cake on Gina DePalma’s wonderful “Dolce Italiano” I immediately marched to the kitchen to prepare it. The cake is very tasty, with great texture, but I think that an extra handful of raisins would make it even better.

Almond and raisin cake
slightly adapted from the delicious Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen

½ cup (120ml) Marsala wine
½ cup (77g) golden raisins
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (25g) almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
100g (3 ½oz) almond paste – I used homemade
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (60ml) whole milk, room temperature
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 22cm (9in) round cake pan*, line the bottom with baking paper, butter the paper as well and dust it all with flour, tapping out the excess.
Combine the Marsala with the raisins in a small saucepan and place over medium heat until the wine just begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and cool completely.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the almond past until smooth.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. On low speed, add half of the dry ingredients, beating well. Scrape the bowl again. Add the milk, beat well, then beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Switch to medium speed and beat for 30 seconds. Switch to low speed again and add the raisin and the wine.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto the rack. Cool completely.
Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

* I made the exact recipe above using a 20cm (8in) cake pan (7cm high)

Serves 8-10