Caxton magazines staff“Italian cooking is about coming together as a family to celebrate life, food and wine,” says artist Maria Patrizi (mariapatriziart.co.za), whose crowd-pleasing menu reflects her Pugliese heritage
INGREDIENTS
- vanilla ice cream
- freshly-made espresso
- Frangelico liqueur
For the Biscotti:
- 750g cake flour, plus extra for dusting
- 12ml baking powder
- 500g sugar
- 150g sliced almonds
- 50g aniseed seeds
- 150g unsalted butter
- grated rind of 1 lemon
- 150ml dry white wine
- 3 eggs
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
2. To make the biscotti: place all the ingredients, except the eggs, in a bowl. Mix thoroughly and then add the eggs one at a time, kneading well.
3. On a floured work surface, roll the dough into roughly 5cm-thick oval sausages each about 30cm in length.
4. Transfer these biscotti loaves onto a greased baking tray and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 15–20 minutes until golden brown.
5. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool.
6. Preheat the oven to 80°C.
7. Once cooled, cut the biscotti loaves into slices about 2cm thick. Arrange them in a single layer on a greased baking tray and place in the oven to dry out for about 2 hours.
8. Once cool, store the biscotti in an airtight container until ready to serve.
9. To make the café affogato: place a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream into a dessert dish, pour over the hot espresso and half a tot of Frangelico liqueur. Serve immediately with the biscotti.
This recipe makes about 30 biscotti.
