Fruit Cake Biscotti

This Fruit Cake Biscotti has all the flavours of a Fruit Cake in a lighter crispier form. The perfect treat to dip into a cuppa be it tea or coffee, even hot milk. And just like it’s fruit cake cousin that is famous for longevity, this biscotti can be kept in an air tight container for a month, not that it will last that long, it’s irresistible.

What are Biscottis

Biscotti is an oblong shaped crunchy biscuit that originated in Tuscany. Also known as Cantucci, what makes Biscottis unique is that they are baked twice. Once, to cook the oblong shaped dough after which it is sliced diagonally to create the characteristic oblong shape. The second baking is to dry up the slices resulting in a crisp biscuit, which makes it perfect for dunking into an espresso.

This Fruit Cake version of the Biscotti is not overly sweet, relying on the dried fruits stirred throughout the biscuit for pops of sweetness. It is lightly spiced with the traditional Fruit Cake flavouring, giving it a holiday feel. However, the spices in the recipe are just suggestions. Feel free to omit or add any spice you like and make it your own, but cinnamon is a must. I also always add cardamom because I love it in (almost) everything.

Another great thing about this recipe is that it does not contain dairy, which makes a very good dairy free option, if you’re trying to avoid dairy.

You would be right to think that this would make an ideal edible gift specially around Christmas time. It has all the flavours of Christmas and more importantly it keeps well, so it’s perfect for do ahead baking. And by the way, if you are interested in making the traditional Christmas Cake here’s the Mowlai Family Christmas Fruit Cake recipe.

What you need to make Fruit Cake Biscotti

• Pantry Items – Eggs,Brown Sugar,Plain and Self Raising Flour and a bit of Caster Sugar to sprinkle on top to make it look festive.
• Dried Fruits – You can use any combination of dried fruits of your choice. Apples, Glacé Cherries,Pineapples,Ginger,Mixed Peel, Cranberries to name a few. Leave the Glacé Cherries whole if using.
• Nuts – Walnuts,Almond,Pistachios, Pecans chopped,or slivered it’s up to you.
• Spices- Cinnamon,Cardamom,Ginger,Nutmeg. If there’s a spice on the list that you don’t like, you can omit it, however, I believe cinnamon is a must!

Easy does it…

• Whisk (hand whisk is fine) together brown sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl until combined.
• Sift the flours and spices over the bowl, then add the chopped dried fruits and nuts. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to combine into a soft dough.
• Flour your hands and shape the dough into a log about 30cm long and place on a greased baking tray. At this point it will look like an ugly slug. A handy tool for shaping, if you have it, is a scraper, which makes it less messier. Sprinkle a bit of Caster Sugar on the top.
• Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 180°C oven.Cool in the tray.
• When cool enough to handle, transfer the log into a chopping board. Use a serrated knife to slice the log diagonally into 5 mm slices.
• Arrange slices in a baking tray in single layer.If you have a baking tray with a wire rack, place the slices in the wire rack over the baking tray, which means that you don’t have to flip the slices over as the heat will circulate freely.
• Bake at 160°C for 30 minutes- turn the slices over so the other side crisp up as well halfway thru the baking time.

Fruit Cake Biscotti

Recipe by Lola Adele

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

20

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

• 1 cup Brown Sugar

• 2 Eggs

• 1 cup Plain Flour

• 1/2 cup Self Raising Flour

• 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom Powder

• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

• 1 cup Dried Fruit Medley (Apricot,Cranberry,Glacé Cherries,Mixed Peel,Apple)

• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped Nuts of your choice

• Caster Sugar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease an baking sheet or line with baking paper.
• Coarsely chop dried fruits, and set aside. You can leave glacé cherries whole if using.
• Whisk brown sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl until combined. Sift flours and the spices over the bowl. Add the chopped dried fruits and nuts of your choice. Use a wooden spoon to mix into a soft dough.
• Flour hands to prevent sticking and shape the dough into a log (about 30 cm) and place on the prepared baking sheet. Add a little bit more flour if the dough is too wet. Sprinkle the top evenly with a teaspoon of Caster Sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, then cool in the tray.
  
• Reduce oven to 160°C. Use a serrated knife to slice the log diagonally into 5mm thick slices.
• Arrange slices in a single layer on an oven tray. Bake for 30 minutes or until the Biscotti are crisp turning the biscuits over the other side at 15 minutes mark. If you have a baking tray with a wire rack, you can place the biscotti on the wire rack with the baking tray underneath. This means that you don’t have to turn the biscotti over. Cool on wire racks and store in an airtight container.

Notes

• Makes about 25 Biscotti. Store in an airtight container and will last for up to a month.