Angela Day
Biscotti is the Italian version of a South African rusk.
The word means “twice baked”, where the dough is baked once until done, then sliced and returned to the oven to dry out. This way the cookies can last a long time. We do the same with our rusks.
Italians dip their biscotti into Vinsanto (an Italian dessert wine), we dunk our rusks into tea or coffee. Either way, it’s always handy to have a supply in the cookie jar.
Personally I am not fond of biscotti or rusks that are so dried out and hard that one might require dental work if you tried eating them without dunking.
My test for a perfect rusk or biscotti is being able to enjoy it without the obligatory dunk.
For biscotti this requires that you don’t leave them in the oven on the second drying for too long.
With rusks, which do need to dry out overnight, I find that having enough butter in the recipe will make them crisp and crunchy and not overly hard.
Fig and pistachio biscotti
Makes about 50
580ml flour
60ml polenta
10ml baking powder
250ml castor sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
100g dried figs, chopped
100g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
4 eggs, beaten
Pre-heat the oven to 180degC. In a large bowl combine the flour, polenta, baking powder, castor sugar, lemon rind, figs and nuts and mix well. Add the eggs and mix to form a softish dough.
Using floured hands, divide the dough into two portions and shape each into a log on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the logs are pale golden brown and a skewer inserted into the logs comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the logs into diagonal slices about 1cm thick. Place the slices on to a baking tray and return to the oven at 150degC for 15-20 minutes until dried out. Remove and cool, then store in an airtight container.
Health rusks
Makes 50-60
1kg self-raising flour
5ml salt
500ml muesli
500ml bran flake cereal
375ml sugar
20ml baking powder
3 eggs
500g butter, melted
500ml buttermilk
Pre-heat the oven to 180degC. Combine the flour, salt, muesli, cereal, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl and mix well. Combine the eggs, butter and buttermilk and mix well. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix to form a stiff dough.
Press the dough into a 40x 50cm greased oven roasting pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the pan comes out clean. Remove from the oven, then cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out on to a cooling rack.
Allow to cool completely. Cut the slab into slices and then into fingers and place on an oven tray.
Dry out in the oven at 50degC overnight if possible or for at least 6 to 8 hours. Store in an airtight container.
ANGELA DAY
The Angela Day cookery column is published in The Star, the Cape Argus, the Daily News and the Pretoria News.
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