Biscotti Detour
Bonjourno from Italy!
Alright, not really. As close as I will come today to an Italian escape is with my lovely cup of coffee, some delizioso biscotti, and the Italian calendar that hangs in our kitchen. But I will take a little biscotti detour any day. This baking assignment was timed perfectly with a movie we watched last night on cappuccino (The Perfect Cappuccino, for those inclined towards nerdy-fun documentaries). Once past the chatty intro, I was submerged into the world of coffee. And had to suppress a massive craving, at 10pm, for un caffe espresso.
Our baking duo simmered to a solo this week. Hannah is enjoying the wilds of Alaska. She promises to bring me back a cute baby bear, as Portland garbage pickup is now only every two weeks, and I forgot to take it out last week. Surely more coffee-biscotti retreats will awaken my memory.
Mt. Hood (placeholder for some Alaska pics from Hannah)
The biscotti baking, like a quiet Sunday evening, passed quickly and sweetly. Because I was enjoying my quiet Sunday, I avoided the grocery store and unearthed (almost literally) a bag of unopened pistachios from the bowels of the pantry. Though never opened, they were still stale. I roasted them in the oven, hoping to warmly coax out their nutty essence. The oven returned to me little pods of salt, but at least they looked like nuts.
Not sure about these little guys
After our Genoise faux pas last time, I read the TWD comments for this recipe ahead of time. The cocoa powder and instant coffee additions seemed like good pairings with my salty pseudo-nuts. (I also wished I had some dried cherries.)
Ingredients went in, two logs came out. I did omit the salt for this recipe, no explanation needed.
Coffee-chocolate experiment
No no, don’t eat yet
After slicing and baking again (on a cooling rack!), the biscotti was finished, and so was my french press. The biscotti fluffed and melted nicely into my cinnamon-sprinkled coffee. The salt pods did not attack; instead, I tasted faint chocolate and a hint (very small) of pistachio. I love that I have enough for at least a week of morning coffee time. Sorry Hannah, these may not survive until you return.
Get cozy, I only have one cooling rack.
Coffee and biscotti belong together, just like Sundays and detours, bears and garbage. And baking with friends 🙂 Next time, our baking duo resumes to try our luck at Semolina Bread.
Not quite Italy, but close enough.
Trumping the Tart 
Great pictures and they look great. Seems like Hannah missed out 😦
I love the chocolate version, and with pistachios! Great for your `italian moment´!
ooh… I like your variation of cocoa powder and coffee. Looks lovely!
The chocolate looks really good! 🙂
Your cookies came out great.
~Carmen
Nice job! I was on my own for last month’s recipes, so can sympathize with your solo efforts.
I am reading this with ENVY from Alaska. Good job Jess! I wish there was going to be some when I came home.
LOL. I thought your photos were in front of some glorious ancient scenery, not just a calendar… Nice job, even if you had to make them solo. They look delicious.
The calendar made me laugh. And I am jealous of the chocolate biscotti. I should have done that. They look great!
Lovely pics!
Glad you survived your baking episode 🙂
It’s nice when things work out better than expected!