Hostess with the Mostest

To me, nothing screams "hostess with the mostest" more than fresh home-baked goodies on stand-by to go with the cup of coffee or tea for the unexpected guest who pops by. I'm not normally a huge fan of biscotti, but I did have some particularly delicious chocolate-dipped ones at the De Young Museum in the Golden Gate Park just last week, so I was inspired to create my own at home.

I did not manage to chocolate dip these ones, but they are nutty and fulfilling nonetheless, and extremely easy to make. This recipe comes from a very old cookbook, Beautiful Baking by Carole Clements.

Italian Almond Biscotti (makes 48)
200g whole unblanched almonds
215g plain flour
100g sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon saffron powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1 egg white, lightly beaten, for glazing


- Preheat a 190 deg c oven. Grease and flour 2 baking sheets

- Spread the almonds in a baking tray and bake until lightly browned, around 10 mins. When cool, grind about a quarter of the almonds until pulverised. Coarsely chop the remaining almonds into 2 or 3 pieces each.

- Combine the flour, sugar, salt, saffron, baking soda and ground almonds into a bowl and mix to blend. Make a well in the centre add the eggs. Stir to form a rough dough. Add the chopped almonds and blend well.

- Divide the dough into 4 parts and shape into logs about 2.5cm in diameter. Place on one of the baking sheets, brush with the egg white, and bake for 20mins. Remove from the oven.

- With a very sharp knife, cut each log at an angle making 1cm thick slices. Return the slices on the sheets to a 140 deg c oven and bake for 25 mins more. Transfer to a rack and cool.