Hello from NL 43; this is Bake Sense—a somewhat ordered record of ramblings concerning the world of baking. Along the way, you’ll find recipes and insights from life in and out of the professional bakery and plenty of fruitful chat.
Bunter Teller: translates as “colourful Plate”, a German tradition for Advent, which marks the run-up to Christmas with the baking and making of festive treats to take pride of place on the Bunter Teller, a plate piled high with colourful biscuits, chocolate, sweets and confections. I’m in! And I implore you to get on board too, (not that you’ll need much persuading).
The tradition of festive biscuiteering is a big one, and you’ll likely see plenty of packages put together by mainstream food media, displaying a plethora of colourful biscuits and cookies, like this from NYT, this from the kitchen and this Christmas biscuit top 20 from the Guardian.
You won’t be short on finding inspiration for putting together your own selection and no doubt have some family favourites that you make every year. But if you’re looking for something new and want to consider colouring your bunter teller with all shades of the grainbow, I’ll be sharing a flour-forward biscuit each week until Christmas.
First up, Biscotti, because biscotti is a blank canvas biscuit dream. Twice baking renders them shelf-stable for weeks and makes them sturdy enough to be shipped across the country with confidence. Two biscuit virtues that are so welcome at this time of year.
Marmalade on Toast Biscotti
Malty, toasty, bitter, sweet and a moreish quotient that makes them ridiculously snackable. A not-too-sweet, definitely not too-hard biscotti, as tender as it is toasted, making this one for those who think they don’t like biscotti on account of the injustice served to it by chain coffee shops.
Don’t let the long list of ingredients put you off; each one builds a level of flavour and texture that makes them worth the effort. But if you’re looking for something more accessible, then replace the combination of wholemeal flour, white flour, malted wheat flour and sourdough breadcrumbs with a favourite wholewheat flour of your choosing (a total of 250g).
Ingredients
100g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
50g honey (I like to use dark honey such as Garigue, Buckwheat or Chestnut
1 tbsp toasted fennel seeds
1/2 tsp flaky sea salt
3 whole eggs, lightly beaten
100g wholemeal flour (stoneground if possible)
50g white flour (stoneground if possible)
50g malted wheat flakes (milled) or malted wheat flour
50g finely blitzed sourdough breadcrumbs
5g baking powder
75g dark chocolate, roughly chopped (I love Pump Street’s 85% Ecuador chocolate for this)
55g candied peel (finely chopped)
55g lightly toasted whole almonds (roughly chopped)
Method
Beat the butter, sugar and honey together in the bowl of a stand mixer until combined; there is no need to cream; we just want the ingredients to be blended. Add the toasted fennel seeds and sea salt and beat for another minute.
Add the beaten eggs a little at a time, beating well to incorporate. This biscotti has quite a high egg ratio, so it is normal for the mixture to look a little curdled.
Combine all of the dry ingredients, (except for the candied peel, chocolate and almonds) in a bowl, ensure they are well mixed. Add the dry to the wet in three additions, mixing to combine after each. When the final amount of dry ingredients looks to be just combined add the candied peel, chocolate and nuts. Mix to evenly distribute the inclusions.
The mixture will be very sticky because of the honey and malted flour!
Line a baking sheet with greaseproof and divide the mixture roughly in half; place each half on the baking tray; you will have two very sticky mounds. Dust the top of each lightly with flour and place in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. The dough is easier to handle when chilled slightly.
Once chilled, pat the dough into two long logs, (using a little extra flour if required) measuring approx 30cm/12inches in length and 3-4cm/1-1.5inches.
Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C (Fan) and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until they feel firm enough to cut. Cut crossways into 1cm portions, lay flat on the baking sheet and bake in the oven at 160 degrees C (Fan) for 15 minutes. The biscotti will still feel a little soft but will firm and crisp up once cool.
Store in an airtight container where they’ll keep for up to 2 weeks at least.