I am currently in the midst of planning for my first trip to Rome! Rome has held one of the top spots of my travel bucket list for quite some. Primarily and unsurprisingly for the food. Italian food is without a doubt my favourite. I would happily live my life on a diet of pasta and gelato- and some days I do just that! My mouth is watering already in anticipation of bowls upon bowls of Spaghetti Carbonara and Cacio e Pepe. I of course shall squeeze in a good few slices of pizza as well, do not worry! Then to start on the sweets. I have already found Gelato shops in all different areas of Rome, so I know there is always somewhere close by in a hunger emergency. Although I am not sure hunger shall ever strike, especially as I plan on filling my handbag with as many Italian sweets and pastries as possible, from every single bakery we pass. Cannoli upon cannoli upon cannoli.
To keep me going until we arrive I have made a big batch of Biscotti. Fun fact I learnt whilst researching, a singular Biscotti is called a Biscotto! The name originates from the Latin word biscotus, which means ‘twice baked’. It is this twice baking which gives the biscotti its dry and crunchy nature. Every time I bake Biscotti I like to experiment a little and switch up the flavours. This time I went for dark chocolate and Hazelnut and they certainly do not disappoint. Enjoy...
Ingredients…
2 eggs
100g caster sugar
220g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
75g chopped toasted hazelnuts
75g dark chocolate chips
Method…
Preheat your oven to 180’160 fan and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Whisk together the eggs and caster sugar, until light and pale and fluffy.
Fold in the flour, cocoa, bicarb and then the chocolate chips and hazelnuts.
Tip out onto a floured surface and knead slightly to make sure everything has come together and then roll the dough into a long sausage, roughly 3cm wide. You may need to put the dough diagonally on your tray or use two trays and split the ‘sausage’ in two!
Pop into the oven for 30 minutes, until crisp on top.
Once out the oven, allow to cool slightly, then slice on the diagonal, roughly 1-2 cm wide, and lay flat back on your baking tray.
Return the tray to oven, a a slightly lower 160/140 fan, and bake for a further 10 minutes, then flip each bicotto over, bake for a further 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool and enjoy dipping into a delicious cup of coffee.
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