Recipe Twenty Seven: Lemon & Pistachio Biscotti

I know I have fallen woefully behind on my whole six month challenge.

I don't think I'm going to make it to 130 by the beginning of May but I will try to get as close as possible.

When I made myself a coffee at work on Monday I noticed how devoid the work kitchen was of a perfect biscuit to eat with said coffee and I decided I would rectify the situation.

It had to be Biscotti.

I'm sure you're aware I love lemon & pistachio together and so I put those flavours  in what I think turned out to be a wonderful crispy, not too sweet balance to my slightly bitter & milky cup of coffee.

Lemon & Pistachio Biscotti.

60gms of chopped butter

1 cup of caster sugar

1 teaspoon on vanilla

The finely grated rind of one lemon.

4 eggs

2 1/4 cups of plain flour.

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda.

3/4 of a cup of shelled pistachios, roughly chopped.

Splash of water

1/4 cup of extra caster sugar.

 Preheat oven to 180C & line 2 baking trays

In a bowl beat together: butter, sugar, vanilla & rind until just combined.

Add three of your eggs, one at a time beating to combined between each addition.

Stir in flour, baking powder & bicarb soda.

Stir in the nuts.

Cover & put in the fridge for an hour.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.

Halve dough & make each half into a 30cm long log.

Place each log on a separate tray. Combine the last egg with a splash of water, brush your logs with this mixture and sprinkle each very liberally with your 1/4 cup of caster sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on trays.

Reduce your oven to 170C

Using a serrated knife cut your logs on the diagonal into 1cm thick slices.

Place these slices back on the oven trays and bake for another 15 minutes turning half way through this baking period.

Cool the slices on a cooling rack & you're good to go

xx

Recipe Nine: Mum's Lemon Slice

(I know it says recipe nine...and I just posted recipe twelve...seems there was no ninth recipe...so here is it's replacement!)

The secret ingredient in many of my favourite recipes is the memories they conjure up with your first bite.

This one says Christmas lunch with my Nan and Pa.

It says new bikes and hot days.

It reminds me of the days when all five or six of us  played together in the back yard.

Mum's Lemon Slice:

1/2 a cup of sweetened condensed milk

100gm of Butter

200gms of Granita Biscuits

1 Cup of dessicated coconut.

The Rind of one lemon, finely grated.

Lemon Icing

2 cups of Icing Sugar

40gms of butter

The Juice of the rindless lemon!

Grease and line a slab pan (15 X 25cm)

Put your butter and condensed milk in a small pan and melt together.

Put the biscuits in your food processor and process until you have fine crumbs

Pour these crumbs into a bowl and add 2 teaspoons of lemon rind and the coconut.

Add the hot butter mixture and combine.

Press this mixture into the base of your pan.

Refrigerate for an hour.

Make your lemon icing:

Place icing sugar, butter and 2.5 tablespoons of lemon juice into a small bowl.

Beat until smooth with a wooden spoon.

Spread over base, sprinkle with toasted coconut if you like and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Call in everyone who is playing in the backyard and serve.

xx

Recipe Three: Lemon and Pistachio Wreaths

To say lemon is one of my absolute favourite flavours ever in the entire history of the universe may be understating it a bit. 

Generally if its main flavour is lemon, I'll eat it.

If it doesnt have lemon in it...I usually add it...

Even in tiny amounts lemon gives food a really nice brightness that you just cant achieve otherwise...in my opinion anyhow.

So what makes this biscuit even better than being regular lemon is that under the tart glaze is a beautifully subtle lemon flavoured shortbread. This shortbread is made with almost 1 part wheat flour to 1 part corn flour which gives the biscuit amazingly light texture.
Add to this a sprinkle of lemons best complimentary flavour, Pistachio and your have one heavenly cookie.

Lemon and Pistachio Wreaths

1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon of Salt

1 cup of Plain Flour

3/4 of a cup of Corn Flour

1/2 a cup of caster/superfine Sugar

2 large Egg Yolks
115gms of Butter

The zest of 1 Lemon

2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon of Vanilla

1 3/4 cups of icing/confectioners sugar

Milk

STEP ONE:

Put butter and sugar in a bowl and beat on medium/high until pale and fluffy.

STEP TWO:

Mix in yolks, lemon zest and vanilla.

STEP THREE:

In a separate bowl sift together flours, baking powder and salt.

STEP FOUR:

Gradually add your flour mix (I did 1/3 at a time) until all combined. It will look like sand...

STEP FIVE:

Add milk, a very small dash at a time to bring the mix together, once it starts to come together form it into a disk, wrap in clingfilm and place in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Part Two:

STEP ONE

Pre-heat oven to 180C

Roll our dough between two sheets of baking paper to 1/4-1/8" thickness.

Put that in the fridge until hard.
Once hard, working quickly, peel the top sheet off and cut and transfer raw cookies onto the sheet you just peeled off. (I found it easier to cut the holes in the middle once they were transferred)

STEP TWO:

Bake for 10-12minutes or until very, very place brown on the edge.

Transfer to a rack (or in my case chopping board) and cool completely.

STEP THREE:

These cookies are best glazed the day they will be eaten so that they keep their crunch.

If you're not serving them today pop them in an air tight container until tomorrow.

STEP FOUR:

Get your 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and add them to your icing/confectioners sugar.

Mix until you get a treacle like consistency with no lumps.

STEP FIVE:

Peel the purplish, flaky skin off of your pistachios.

I pour boling water over them and let them sit for a few minutes, this way they mostly slip right out.

Chop nice and finely.

STEP SIX:

Either dip or spread the tops of your wreaths with your lemon glaze.
Next sprinkle with pistachios and leave to set.

AND YOU'RE ALL DONE!
Put them on a pretty plate or package them up and they're ready to go..

xx