Vanilla with roses (Cantuccini-Biscotti )

She never made cakes or sweets, except for her almond cakes, cartellate, at Christmas, and "biscotti tagliati" as she called them (cantuccini to everybody else.)

Mamma's biscuit making was a kind of a rare ritual. She very quickly made the soft dough... so quickly you just had time to smell the fragrance of the fresh lemon rind and the vanilla.

There was something magical about her hands: they could do five things at once! Unlike mine, her fingers were short, her nails slightly long and thick. Those hands are embedded right here: in my memory and in my heart: the hands of the person who gave me life and my first kiss. And how I wish I could hold them now... I can smell a scent of roses...





As the biscotti were baked in oven, the house filled with the fragrance  of "good things to eat"  If you could eat love, that's what my mum's biscuits tasted of! So much love... so much love, it still follows me everywhere. And happiness... that's what I must remember, most of all.

While I was in Italy, in my pursuit to capture time and put it inside a capsule, I made biscotti, just like she used to make. Even the "bottom" was burnt! And I heard myself say:" It's not my fault! It's the oven!"  When did I hear that before? We have an old fashioned oven in our place in Cilento, good for roasting, but terrible for baking, as you have to regulate the emission  of gas, yourself! And cakes and biscuits, unfortunately, do tend to come out with a black "bottom!"

I took some photos, as I went along. Here is the recipe I would like to share.

My wonderful lemons from Sorrento

Biscotti Tagliati (Cantuccini)

Ingredients:

(makes about 60)

325 g (12 oz) plain flour

300 g (11 oz) caster sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

few drops vanilla extract

325 g (12 oz) almonds

Sugar balls or almonds to decorate

  

Before you start, put your almonds in a bag, and crush them, but only slightly.

Place flour, sugar salt, lemon peel  and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Combine, then add your almonds , roughly chopped.

Now, in another bowl,  mix your "wet" ingredients,  by whisking the eggs with the vanilla. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, till you get a stiff, soft dough.

Turn your dough onto a floured surface, then divide it in half. Prepare a baking tray, by greasing with butter and dusting with flour. You can now roll your delicious dough to make two big "sausages", which you will flatten slightly. Place the cylinders onto the greased baking tray, leaving a space between the two, as they will expand, and decorate.



I used some egg wash and these pretty little sugar balls ( diavolini) for one lot and whole almonds for the second.

My cantuccini looked very pretty!

Bake your biscotti in a preheated oven (180 C, 350 F, Gas 4) for about 25 minutes. Take your baked dough out of the oven and leave to cool down. Once cool, you can cut the dough into small, diagonal slices which you will place onto the baking tray, upside down, and bake, once more for a further 15 minutes. This explains the meaning of the word "biscotti": literally "twice baked!"

Eat your biscotti cold. They will be fragrant, crunchy, almondy and will bring a bit of Mediterranean sunshine to your home!

Cantuccini are truly delicious! We enjoy them at Christmas time, with a glass of Prosecco and nostalgia.