A Time to Celebrate with Chocolatey Biscotti

By Cal Orey,

The Writing Gourmet

I'm craving crunchy chocolate. Last week I purchased gourmet store bought traditional biscotti. It was yummy. To give it a lift I made frosting from scratch. I used a mixture of dark chocolate chips, 60 percent cocoa content), confectioners' sugar, half and half organic milk, and pure vanilla. Mix till the consistency is the way you like it--creamy. Yes, it was to live for. All gone...

So here I sit taking calls for the phone psychic network and watching a chick flick, "Obsessed." No wonder I'm craving chocolate. Another unrequited love call to unsweeten my mind. Okay, chocolate is on my brain. Yes, good chocolatey stuff is chock-full of mood enhancing ingredients, including PEA (the love drug) and serotonin (the get happy compound we need when it's gray and cold outdoors). It's time to turn to Gemma Sciabica's recipe for biscotti. She is the biscotti guru on the planet. Last week on the phone she promised me that these are easy to make and bake. See her cookbooks. I feel like I have a Julie and Julia connection--but Gemma is alive and likes me! (Her recipes are in my Healing Powers series (olive oil, chocolate) and in my upcoming brand new book, The Healing Powers of Honey (October 2011, Kensington).

* * *

Chocolate Biscotti

3 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar packed

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

3 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted (3 ounces)

1/3 Marsala Olive Oil

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons rum liqueur

grated peel of 1 orange

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (60-70 percent cocoa content)

1 cup pecans or walnuts chopped, small

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. Make well in center. In another bowl add eggs, melted chocolate, oil, juice, rum, peel, and vanilla, sir. Pour egg mixutre into flour mixture, stir until dough is well blended. Add chocolate chips and nuts. On floured board divide dough into 4 to 6 pieces. Shaped pieces into logs 2 by 12 inches long. Place on foil-lined greased baking sheet, 4 inches apart. Bake in a 350 degrees F oven for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven; cool about 15 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into about 1/2-inch thick slices. Place biscotti, cut side down, on pans; bake 8 to 10 minutes to toast. Makes 60 to 70. Cool. Frost with chocolate frosting (white chocolate or dark).

Ah success. I just received a call, a repeat caller from the network. My intuition was correct! The young woman got her wish met for a challenging career-school goal. I am so happy. She succeeded as I sensed she would (along with my continual intuitive tips and advice). This calls for a celebration. She is so faraway in miles and my reading was spot on. It's time to make chocolate biscotti with dark chocolate frosting. The phone is ringing. It's going to be a long night. I sense it.