Archive for the 'biscuits' Category

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Italian savoiardi sponge fingers

savoiardi biscuits

I have used the Italian name for these extremely light and delicate sponge biscuits, which over here are known as lady fingers, for the simple reason I don’t like the English name. It reminds me of body parts from a CSI investigates episode. Savoiardi is much nicer! And apart from anything else it’s a royal name as it means: from the house of Savoy ( which was our Royal family…:-))How posh is that?  Generally speaking these biscuits are used to make other desserts, like tiramisus,  trifles or  Charlottes (which incidentally I have never made). I can see no reason why they can’t be dunked in a nice cup of coffee, though. They are ideal if you are on a fat free diet as their only ingredients are eggs, flour and sugar. What could be simpler? I had never made them before and was intrigued to discover you have to air them , after baking, for at least 24 hours in order to dry them out. So make sure you bake them in advance! Continue reading ‘Italian savoiardi sponge fingers’

Pistachio and cardamom shortbreads

pistachio and cardamom shortbreads

Yes! Yet another biscuit recipe to share with you, my friends! From the woman who never used to bake them it’s pretty impressive,uh? I have come to the conclusion biscuits are rather a  versatile thing to make! You can offer them to friends when they make a surprise call, have one with your tea or coffee when you are feeling peckish or take one to work with your packed lunch to make it less boring and impress your colleagues. And all without feeling you are overindulging too much. Somebody will point out that these little babies aren’t without a calory or two, judging by the quantity of butter that goes into them but I choose to ignore the remark. Anyway I baked these beauties a few weeks ago and they went down a treat with my Italian lady friends. My husband’s work mates were also suitably impressed. I LOVE pistachios and adore cardamom as a spice so when I spotted this Ottolenghi recipe containing both I just KNEW I had to try them. And sure enough they didn’t let me down. They were definitely worth the effort. Lovely and crumbly, with a rather moreish, delicate flavour. I’ll make them again for sure. I was thinking how lovely they would go with some coconut ice cream or similar….YUMMY! Food for thought…. Continue reading ‘Pistachio and cardamom shortbreads’

Biscoitos de maizena (take 2)

 

biscoitos de maizena (take 2)

If Candi is also jumping on the maizena band wagon I can’t NOT (can you have a double negative in English? I am not sure!) blog the second experiment with maizena biscuits which I promised you. The ones only using  maizena flour, remember? The advantage of this version is that they can be enjoyed by gluten intolerant people. I must say this 100% maizena flour variety is every bit as nice as the previous one and certainly as easy to make, if not easier. I particularly like their yellowish colour and their slightly coarser  texture, (because of the maizena flour which basically resembles polenta, only finer). I reduced the amount of butter and sugar the recipe suggested but even then I confess there is quite a lot of both in them. Oh well!   You only need to have ONE with your tea or coffee. It won’t send your cholesterol levels sky high, surely! Continue reading ‘Biscoitos de maizena (take 2)’

Biscoitos de maizena

biscoitos de maizena

Yes, I am blogging in Portuguese! Well…at least the name of the recipe. It sounds much more enticing. Let me tell you why I ended up making these lovely little biscuits. The inspiration to bake them actually came from Candi’s post (biscottini al limone). Last weekend I tried making them but sadly they turned into a misdemeanour (read:they ended up in the bin). Why? Because I must have put too much bicarbonate of soda in them and you could taste it when you ate them. Oh dear!  Candi’s teaspoon must be much smaller than mine. :-(  Never mind: I know what to do next time. Anyway, I noticed that one of Candi’s biscottini al limone’s ingredients was maizena. Only a tablespoon of it but still. It so happened that I had a small bag of it in my cupboard, still unopened and about to expire with NO idea what to make with it so I started searching the net for biscuits recipes requiring maizena flour. Continue reading ‘Biscoitos de maizena’

Biscottini al limone

Ecco una ricettina per i biscotti della domenica. Da fare assolutamente il giorno prima e lasciare al fresco, meglio in frigo, una notte.Altrimenti rimangono troppo sbriciolosi. Niente foto perché ho il computer rotto e sto postando con un iPad in prestito e non riesco a caricare la foto con questo aggeggio infernale tanto amato da Lucina.
Ho modificato una vecchia ricetta di Araba felice, mettendoci un po’ meno burro e un po’ più zucchero. Ho messo tutti gli ingredienti nel mixer e con la funzione discontinua ho impastato finché si è formata una palla da cui ho fatto un salamino. L’ho messo in frigo per qualche ora, e l’ho tagliato in fette da circa 1 cm l’una. Ho cotto a 180 per 10 minuti. Ho poi messo in frigo una notte. Continue reading ‘Biscottini al limone’

Parmesan biscuits

parmesan biscuits

Last time I blogged some sweet biscuits , today I’ve decided to share with you these savoury ones. They are ideal to serve with an aperitif, or as a starter together with olives, ham, artichokes, etc. That’s exactly how I served them tonight, when I had a girlie night at my house. I had never made them before but they were really easy to bake AND they looked professional. I decided to have a go as I absolutely ADORE parmesan cheese. If you want to make me happy come to my house bearing a chunk of it. I have always loved this beautiful, strong cheese.  It is, without doubt, the king of all cheeses! I used to drive my poor mother crazy by stealing huge slices of it when I was living at home. Continue reading ‘Parmesan biscuits’

Polenta cantucci

Polenta cantuccini

These maxi cantucci made with polenta flour, amongst many other ingredients, are delightful to have with a nice cup of coffee during your morning break. And by the way, for those people who don’t know: cantucci  or cantuccini are a typical Tuscan biscuit, twice baked . They have roasted almonds inside and traditionally you dip them in a very sweet wine, called vin santo….which means “holy wine” in Italian. The ones I am blogging here are lighter than the traditional cantuccini you can buy ready made. My friends and colleagues will testify how airy and deliciously crumbly they are (I took a few in the office to test the ground). I have seen them called “biscotti” in the UK, which is the general name for biscuits (or cookies if you are American)  in Italian. The polenta flour gives them a nice crunchy bite. They are easy to make and keep well in an airtight container. As you can see from the picture they can look very nice too if put in a transparent bag and tied with a nice ribbon or some rafia. The first time I made them my husband thought they came from the delicatessen shop, so professional they looked! I guess they could make a nice home made present to a foodie friend. By the way, you can’t gauge this from the picture but they measure approx. 10 cm. in length. Continue reading ‘Polenta cantucci’