I’m pleased to say that I have joined another baking group, called Sweet Melissa Sundays. We’re baking our way through The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy, the owner of the Sweet Melissa Patisserie(s) in Brooklyn. A few months ago I may have thought it was insane to join a second baking group, but I have such a great time trying out recipes I never would select myself, I decided it was an excellent idea. And if I’m crazy, I’m in good company. The first recipe chosen was Honey Beescotti, which I was delighted about for two reasons: 1) I love biscotti, which I recently found out is easy and fun to make. 2) It’s “bee” season in my line of work, so the name of these cookies made me laugh – gotta love silly puns. Last year one of my co-workers made us all bee antennae. Eloise (better known around here as Ms. Ears) looks much cuter than I do in them, so she is modeling them below. I had to wave a treat in front of her nose, so she would forget there was something on her head, in order to get a picture. So much for dressing her up as a bunny next week.
The first step involved for these wonderful cookies was making candied orange peel. I’ve seen candied orange peel at Whole Foods, but I thought it would be more satisfying (and economical) to make it myself, and that turned out to be true.
I found this recipe fairly easy to put together and very delicious. I adore regular almond biscotti, but the caraway seeds and candied orange really make the cookie burst with flavor. I’m not sure the cookies came out quite the right size. When I read the Problems and Questions on the Sweet Melissa site, most people said their biscotti spread. Mine came out quite small. The size reminded me of the ones served in Italy with the dessert wine, Vin Santo. I happen to have a bottle (hopefully still good) of it in my wine rack, so this gives me the perfect excuse to open it.
This recipe gets an 8 for Deliciousness and a 3 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 2.66. A huge thank you to Lorelei of Mermaid Sweets for organizing this new group and choosing such a fantastic first recipe. You can find the recipe on Lorelei’s site, and be sure to check out the Sweet Melissa Sundays site as well. I’m looking forward baking along with this great new group!
Awww, your biscotti turned out beautifully (although nothing compares to the beautifulness that is Eloise :) ). I'm so excited that you joined a second baking group and we get to bake together! Great pictures, by the way. I love the one of the orange peel!
ReplyDeleteYour biscotti look wonderful - so cute! Great pictures of Eloise too! I liked these a lot too. Hooray for a successful first recipe. Looking forward to baking with you :)
ReplyDeleteYour biscotti look wonderful. Your work sounds like a fun place and your dog is hysterical in the antenae. Love it.
ReplyDeleteI love your perfectly shaped little biscotti. Mine were small too, but they did spread more than yours. Sounds like you loved the flavors together. Wasn't the peel-making fun? Cute dog - I say go for the bunny look. We have devil horns for our dogs (wonder why?)
ReplyDeleteNancy
There's just something about a dog in costume that makes me smile. Ms. Ears looks adorable modeling the antenae. The biscotti look wonderful too and I'm so glad that you liked them.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I break out the camera, my dog runs in the other direction. It's really starting to bug me!
ReplyDeleteYour biscotti look better than the ones in my favorite Italian restaurant. Tell me, what's the secret to not getting them to spread?
Love the dog pictures, soooo cute. These biscotti take me back to Italy too, wish I had some vin santo. And yes, you are in good company with multiple baking groups - so much fun. Thanks for baking with me!
ReplyDeletehaha, I feel like a cheat. I'm sure I'm the only baker to have bought my peel. Naughty Katie!!
ReplyDeleteYour biscotti looks beautiful!!
Katie xox