Monthly Archives: February 2010

February 16, 2010 · 10:53 am

Lavender Honey Biscotti

We once made our own bitters. It was quite the exhausting process sourcing all of the hard to find ingredients – tonka beans, gentian root, cassia sticks. Huh? Many were found in New York’s specialty markets, some online, and others in our kitchen cupboard. The brew was assembled in a mason jar with charred oak chips and then put at the top of a closet to cure? ferment? whatever it is that bitters do for six months or so. The result was an incredible tasting treat that is the highlight of many a cocktail.

But I digress… One of the key ingredients was dried lavender, that we now have an abundant supply of thanks to the minimum mail order quantity. I have been looking for a use for it and finally decided to bake with it. The resulting Lavender Honey Biscotti are delicious, low in fat and extremely easy to make. In addition to adding a distinct, yet light, taste to the cookies, the lavender also provides a nice aroma while the biscotti are in the oven.

Now if I can just find a use for all that leftover gentian root. Ideas, anyone?

Lavender Honey Biscotti

Cook’s Illustrated won’t share the recipe with you but I will…

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Filed under Breads, Cookies, Sweet

Tagged as baking, biscotti, bitters, Cook's Illlustrated, honey, lavender

February 14, 2010 · 7:07 pm

Milk Chocolate-Caramel Tart with Hazelnuts and Espresso

They had me at caramel!

I’m trying to get used to Bon Appétit as a replacement for Gourmet and, sadly, it has not quite happened. Every now and then, however, I am surprised by a recipe that I must try.

This month it was the Milk Chocolate-Caramel Tart with Hazelnuts and Espresso, a dessert that speaks to two of my weaknesses – caramel and coffee-flavored anything. Check out the description: This delicious tart has a buttery shortbread crust, a rich hazelnut-caramel filling, a creamy espresso-chocolate topping, and a sprinkling of crunchy cacao nibs (pieces of roasted cacao beans). Amazing, right?

Instead of one large tart, however, I busted out the tartlet pans from overstock and got to work. I halved the recipe which then yielded four mini tartlets - two for Valentine’s Day and the other two for, well, the day after Valentine’s Day. Oh, and because I’m also crazy for Maldon salt, I added a few flakes to the top of the tartlets.

Milk Chocolate-Caramel Tart with Hazelnuts and Espresso

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give it a try…

I want Pecan Sticky Buns!

Many years ago, when M and I had just become a couple, he woke up one morning and declared, “I feel like cinnamon rolls!” Aiming to please, I made my way to the kitchen and concocted an on-the-fly order of lame rolls that went over wonderfully. He’s too kind.

Several years later, he gave me Baking with Julia, written by Dorie Greenspan and based on the PBS series hosted by Julia Child, as a gift. The book is a companion piece to the thirty-nine half-hour television shows featuring Julia and twenty-seven baker-professors which I, unfortunately, have not had the pleasure of viewing.

I came across Nancy Silverton’s recipe for Pecan Sticky Buns and decided to see if I could replace the impromptu version of years ago with Nancy’s buttery, decadent, brioche-based real deal version. She declares that these buns are unlike anything you will find in the store (she’s right), and they are, incidentally, completely unlike my original creation.