{Baking} CHOCOLATE ALMOND BISCOTTI … the fuss about Valrhona
Deeba @ PAB
“There’s nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE!”
Linda Grayson, “The Pickwick Papers”
Sometimes life springs wonderful surprises, and I sit back reminiscing about how far I’ve come in the past couple of years, and more often than never, the connections boil down to twitter. I have met so many great folk here, all like minded, food at the centre of our universe, and vibes that make everyday HAPPY! Amazing!!
One such tweep is the fun and very talented girl Shayma who blogs at The Spice Spoon. Have you met her? She writes evocatively, a food blog with plenty of connect, inspired by her heritage. We share a sense of infectious enthusiasm, and enjoy endless banter, often in direct messages. She sweetly sent me a bag of her favourite cocoa a few days ago, Valrhona. I’ve heard plenty about it but never figured out what the fuss and hoo-haa was all about. Googling for recipes led me to one of my fave food blogs, David Lebovitz. David recommends the use of superior cocoa in his biscotti recipe, and Valrhona was the one he used. I didn’t have to Google any more!
While I was Googling and deep in Valrhona type thoughts, Mr PAB gave me strangely quizzed looks. … so much excitement over cocoa. I had some proving to do, to me and to him as well. Just mixing the dry ingredients of the biscotti into the wet were enough to make me eat my words. Gosh, the depth, the colour and the flavour of adding superior quality cocoa were already stepping out of the bowl. The first bake and slicing later, it was impossible not to grab a few crumbs. DELICIOUS and oh-so-chocolatey! I couldn’t slice them as thin and neatly as David did his. I think it may be the variety of flour, the temperature, the slight deviation from his recipe etc, but the chunky cookie makes for a fab mouthful. Love how rustic and delicious the sliced biscotti looks.
… Eating my words now, with some delicious crumbs from the first round of baking the biscotti with the cocoa powder in question – Valrhona! Gosh … the biscotti is awesome, and I am pretty sure it had a lot to do with the quality of cocoa. I did add some olive oil to the dough since the eggs I used were small. I could have added another egg, but a sweet lady from the Spanish major Borges was coming over to visit me. I thought she might enjoy the use of olive oil this way, especially since I have been using Borges for a short while.
Sharon visited on behalf of Borges who recently announced it’s entry in the Indian market with the launch of its flagship product Olive Oil. It launched 3 variants – Extra Virgin, Extra Light and Pure Olive Oil. I missed the launch since I was out of town, and the lovely lady came by so see me with a bag of the different variants. Olive oil has seen an upsurge in the Indian market of late, and there have been hectic promotions on many fronts, including this one at the European Art of Taste. {I was mildly surprised to hear exclamations at EAT when I said I use olive oil in desserts and baking.} A lot of folk here don’t associate olive oil with desserts / sweet stuff, but I’ve made Cocoa Cherry Dessert Brownies, Pistachio Olive Oil Brownies, Orange and Olive Oil Cake, Chocolate Buckwheat Lime Tart among other things.
I have been using Borges Olive Oil for a short while now, mainly the extra virgin and extra light varieties. The Extra Light variety has been developed keeping in mind Indian cooking, and has a higher heating point to allow sautéing on high heat, deep frying etc. It has a mild flavour that doesn’t overpower the flavour of the food, but compliments the dish lending it the health benefits associated with olive oil. I am looking forward to using the extra virgin and the balsamic soon. You should see more olive oil recipes popping here now & then as I love using it!
Chocolate Almond Biscotti Adapted minimally from David Lebovitz 30-35 cookies Use a good-quality cocoa powder. You can use natural or Dutch-process for these, whichever one you like. Just remember that the chocolate flavor of the finished cookies is dependent on the quality of cocoa powder you use…. read more 2 cups flour 3/4 cups top-quality cocoa powder {I used Valrhona} 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 small eggs, at room temperature 1/8cup olive oil {I used Borges} 1 cup vanilla sugar, or plain granulated 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped {optional} 1 cup almonds, toasted and very coarsely-chopped 3/4 cups chocolate chips {I used dark} For the glaze 1 egg white 1 sachet vanilla sugar
Method: Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake a cookie sheet with baking parchment. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, olive oil, vanilla beans, vanilla extract and almond essence if using. Fold the dry ingredients, chopped almonds and chocolate chips in the wet mix till well incorporated, and the cookie dough comes together. Divide the dough into half, and form into logs using slightly damp hands. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. bake for 25 minutes or until the dough feels firm. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes.
Slice and place sides down on the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm. Cool completely and store in an airtight box.
Davids’ notes : Once baked, cool the cookies completely then store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. If you wish, the cookies can be half-dipped in melted chocolate, then cooled until the chocolate hardens.
