While coffee is the name of the game this month as we hunt out the right flavour to use at the Oxford Blue, I thought I’d match this with its counter part biscotti a match that go hand-in-hand. Normally I would have chosen a recipe that had more of a summer feel, however as we seem to be having a very British summer these are one of my favourite treats.

INGREDIENTS

• 115g whole almonds
• 60g ground almonds
• 400g all-purpose flour
• 80g cocoa powder
• 115g dark chocolate chips
• 8g baking powder
• 3g cinnamon
• 5 eggs
• 400g sugar
• 85g melted butter
• 2 oranges zested
• 160g white chocolate chips
• 40g dark chocolate melted

METHOD

Stage 1

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a pan, on the hob toast the ground almonds – this will happen quickly so don’t leave it alone
3. In another baking sheet, roast whole almonds
4. Once roasted, crush the whole almonds into pieces
5. In a medium bowl, mix together baking powder and cinnamon
6. Add the crushed nuts and chocolate chips

Stage 2

1. Beat the eggs until fluffy
2. Add ground almonds, sugar, melted butter and orange zest
3. Beat the mixture until it creates a batter
4. Fold in the flour mixture
5. Marble in the melted dark chocolate

Stage 3

1. Dust a work surface with flour.
2. Scrape the sticky dough out onto the work surface and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.
3. Using your hands, shape the dough into a rough ball (if it’s still too sticky, dust with a bit more flour) and cut in half.
4. Form the dough pieces into two short logs by rolling back and forth. Place the logs onto the prepared baking sheet and shape into longer logs about 3/4-inch high and 2 inches wide. Allow enough space for the logs to spread a few inches while they bake.
5. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until firm to the touch.
6. Let the biscotti logs cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, or until just cool enough to touch (if you wait any longer, the biscotti will be difficult to cut); then, using a sharp knife, slice the logs on the diagonal into 3/4-inch slices (I do this right on the baking sheet). (They will crumble just a bit; don’t worry about it.)
7. Turn the biscotti on their sides (so that the cut sides are down) and place back in the oven for 10 minutes to dry and crisp up. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. When cool, push all the biscotti together (this prevents the Confectioners sugar from getting on the sides of the cookies) and use a fine sieve to dust with Confectioners sugar.