Italian Almond biscotti

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On a good day if you ask me what would I like with my coffee - it would probably be a healthy little cookie like an oatmeal and whole wheat kind, or one with arrowroot, maybe a macaron, or a biscotti. But of course there are days when I sit eating up an entire package of a peanut butter or chocolate chip cookie and not offer it to anyone..lol!
Of all these healthy variety, I have to say - macarons and biscotti are my favourite. Simply because you can play around so much with the flavours and colours and it just tastes great!
These cookies are from Italy and 'biscotti' just means cookie in Italian. These are baked twice giving them a long shelf life. Usually the Italians would dunk it in their dessert wine and eat, but of course, coffee and tea are also its wonderful companions! Here is how I made it.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated white sugar. I know some people add 1 cup, but I think 3/4 gives just the right sweetness for me.
1 cup almonds, toasted in the oven for about 8-10 minutes at 350 F
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( I use vanilla sugar coz we don't get vanilla extract here easily!)
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract. This is what gives the biscotti their signature almond-y smell..love it!


Coarsely chop the toasted almonds. Snack on a couple maybe - they taste so good!
Combine the dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla and almond extracts. Add in this mixture to the dry ingredients slowly and stir. You could use your electric mixture for this. Add in the chopped almonds and the remaining egg mixture so that you get it to form a dough. Shape the dough into 2 logs about 10x2". Bake it on a 350 oven for about 40 minutes. Then take it out of the oven, let it cool so you can work with it- about 8-10 minutes, and cut them at a diagonal so that you get that classic biscotti shape. Lay these biscuits flat and bake for about 10 minutes again per side, or if you can make it to stand, then just once would be fine.
Allow it to cool a bit before you pop it into your mouth :)

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Beetroot halwa

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So who wants a dessert that is healthy too? And has more nutrients than you can count. Don't think too hard - I'll answer it for you - it is my latest favourite dessert - Beetroot halwa. A quick search on the holistic benefits of beetroot will enlighten you on how good it is for you, but I had been eyeing on turning this vegetable into something that I can fall in love with. I don't like it raw, I don't like it in salads, not in a vegetable curry, not in a soup..yeah I am quite choosy that way. But I need my iron. I will not turn this into a health bulletin but all you folks who don't eat red meat - you need your iron - which you'll find aplenty in this veggie.

So last weekend i tried turning it into a dessert - a halwa. Traditionally a halwa uses copious amounts of ghee(clarified butter), but since it is not so easily available in stores(except Indian and health food stores) I replaced it with a can of condensed milk. And it was ready in minutes. Of course after 30 mins of my work out in grating it very fine. So here is how I made it.



- 1 large beetroot washed, peeled and finely grated
- 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk
- 2 and 1/2 tablespoons ghee/butter
- 4-5 cardamom pods or 1 teaspoon of cardamom powder
- 1 tablespoonful of cashews/pistachios/almonds
- 1 tablespoon raisins

Heat 1 and 1/2 tablespoon ghee or butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Add in the beetroot and fry it on medium heat for about 10 mins. Add in the cardamom. Then add the condensed milk and reduce the heat. Keep stirring for 20-25 mins. In a seperate pan, add in the remaining 1 tablespoon of ghee and then the nuts and raisins. Once the nuts get a light brown colour and the raisins puff up, add them to the halwa.
Add some more nuts for garnish while serving.

I made this last weekend just as a test since I am known for not liking this humble vegetable, but was surprised when my husband ate up 2 cup fulls of deliciousness and demanded I make it more often. And I couldn't be happier to finally start my love affair with this vegetable so understated! Share

Blackberry cake

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When I picked up a basket of blackberries this weekend, I was thinking more on the lines of blackberry coulis drizzled over an angel food cake, pancake, or just about anything sweet. But while I was grocery shopping, I saw this new ad showing a cup of coffee and a big slice of cake with all kinds of berries in it! I would have stopped and eaten it up right there - but I was alone, and eating alone isn't much fun as we all know. Also, I managed to prove one thing to myself - the oft-repeated "Do not go grocery shopping when you are hungry". I can tell you - nothing can be more true!
Anyways, so I came home and decided to make a cake, and eat it too! A blackberry cake. This is the version I made - although I usually prefer making a simple cake - like an angel food cake and dress it up with some cream cheese and berries. Here is the recipe


1/2 cup butter
1 cup fresh blackberries - washed and completely dried
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is lovely, although the powdered one works fine)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger powder
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven at 350 degrees, grease your cake tin and sift the flour, and all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Now cream the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs one at a time, and continue beating. Add the flour mix slowly and gently mix it into the butter-egg mixture. Add the buttermilk slowly else it will cause lumps to be formed. Gently fold in the blackberries. Pour into the cake tin and bake for about 55 minutes. Once done, add your choice of icing. I really couldn't wait to eat it up, so just sprinkled some powdered sugar, and chocolate gratings.

Of course, the berries never made it to a coulis :)

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