Almond and Chocolate Chip Biscotti

When you are looking for something a little more glamorous and rusks don't quite fit the bill, these hot beverage dippers are just the thing.  Actually, they were traditionally dipped in dessert wine or sweet wine, for example, Vin Santo, which is a style of Italian dessert wine.  The nutty almond or hazelnut flavours are an ideal compliment to sweeter wines that have aged a while

Experiments in Shortbread

I've never made shortbread and have always been a little hesitant to try as it seems to be one of those things that have got to perfectly meet with the expectations of the person consuming it or else you might as well not bother.  Coming from a German and Dutch background, my childhood memories are somewhat void of shortbread experiences.  Ask me about zimtsterne or baumkuchen and i can wax lyrical for hours... shortbread not so much...

Chocolate Roll-Out Biscuits

On Monday i came across this post by the oh-so talented Sugarbelle.  My uncle and 8 year old cousin came to visit for a few days this week.  While "baby-sitting" my cousin, he asked if we could bake something.  As he has quite a sweet tooth and a deep fondness for chocolate, i knew exactly what we would experiment with!  Chocolate roll-out cookies...

The Judo-chop cookie cutting method!!

As you can see - a huge variety of cookie cutters were used!

 This recipe is my adaptation from Cookie Sensations by Meaghan Mountford, author of The Decorated Cookie Blog.


250 g butter
250 ml sugar
1 egg
5 ml vanilla paste
500 ml cake flour
125 ml cocoa
2.5 ml bicarbonate of soda


In a mixer, cream the butter until smooth before gradually adding the sugar.  Once light and fluffy, add the egg and vanilla.  Sift the dry ingredients over the creamed mixture.  Mix on low speed to combine the ingredients.  Knead into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 60 minutes.

Knead the dough until you can roll it out nicely.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 5 mm.  Cut which ever shapes your heart desires (we put almost my entire cookie cutter collection to use!) and place on a baking tray.  Bake for 10-15 minutes (size-dependent) in an oven pre-heated to 200 ˚C.
The baked cookies have a lovely chocolatey colour and flavour.  Good texture too.  Overall, a very easy and yummy recipe!!