Fruit and Nut Biscotti: The Perfect Accompaniment

Did you attend our VIP Evening recently? If you did, no doubt you sampled the Christmas Pudding Vodka Liqueur and Limoncello from our previous blogs, in addition to an absolutely delicious accompaniment of Biscotti. So many of our lovely guests commented on how scrumptious the Biscotti were, so here it is… the recipe you’ve all been waiting for: Fruit and Nut Biscotti, Potters style!

For those of you wondering what biscotti actually is (it’s quite often one of those things that you’ve heard of but never tried!), Biscotti dates back to Ancient Rome. Biscotti means ‘twice cooked’ and so was a convenient food at the time, as the biscotti was hard and dry, but had a long shelf life. The same is true today.
As biscotti are very dry, it is traditionally served with a drink to dunk into. In Italy they are typically served as an after-dinner dessert; they are delicious dunked into our Limoncello that we previously mentioned! So without further ado, let’s get this biscotti business on the road, to go with your Potters liqueurs… enjoy for yourself, or treat friends and family to a wonderful homemade gift.

Fruit and Nut Biscotti

Equipment

Most of the equipment needed is quite basic to create these gorgeous biscotti. However, there are several pieces of equipment which will make life a lot easier, so we have listed these below. Click on each item to see our online range, or pop in store:

• Kitchen scales
• Zester or Grater – we used a Microplane grater/zester for this recipe
• Baking sheets
• Bread knife
• Wire rack
• Airtight container
• Joseph Joseph Roll-up pastry mat

Ingredients

350g plain flour plus spare for rolling
250g golden caster sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp baking powder
1 orange zest, coarsely grated
85g raisins
85g cranberries
3 beaten eggs
50g shelled pistachio nuts
50g blanched almond nuts

Method

• Preheat your oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas
• Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper
• Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and mixed spice together
• Stir in the eggs and zest. When the mixture becomes clumpy, form into a dough with your hands
• Knead until the flour has disappeared then add the fruit and nuts and knead some more until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough
• Lightly flour a kitchen surface and place your dough on top. Divide into to four, and roll (with floured hands to avoid sticking) each piece into a (roughly) 30cm sausage

• Place 2 on each tray, spaced well, and bake for 25-30 minutes until the dough has risen, spread and feels firm to the touch. It will look pale at this point – don’t worry!
• Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack for a few minutes until you can handle them. In the meantime, turn your oven down to 140C/fan 120C/gas
• Use a bread knife to cut 1cm thick slices on the diagonal

• Lay the slices flat on the baking sheets. If you prefer, you can wait for the slices to cool then bag them up to freeze at this point – they will keep for up to 2 months. Bake for a further 15 minutes (20 if from frozen). Flip over and then bake for another 15 minutes until dry and golden in colour
• Let them cool on a wire rack, then store in an airtight container for up to a month
• Alternatively, you could pack into gift boxes or bags to give as gifts straightaway

So how did your Biscotti turn out? We would love to hear in the comments below! Another great homemade treat to serve up to friends and family, or give as gift.
Keep a lookout for more of our blogs in the lead up to Christmas – they’re all geared towards gift giving for the upcoming festive season – enjoy!

Related Blogs

Be sure to care and share our blogs. We would love to see you over on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and read your thoughts in the comments below.