Biscotins

Another manner of Biscotins
Take a half-pound of sugar; cook it to the feather stage. Once cooked, remove it from the fire, & weigh three-quarters [pound] of flour which you will put inside your sugar syrup, reserve some flour that you will keep to handle it on the table. Having put your flour in your syrup, you will stir it well with a spoon: when your paste is well done [all your syrup has been absorbed into the flour], take it from the stove, & put it onto a clean table [marble pastry board], where you will have strewn a little flour before; it is necessary to stir it up; at the same time you will pour out your paste, & make small balls about one inch: you must work quickly; because when the paste is cold, one cannot work with it anymore: when the balls are formed, cook in the oven without paper; on copper sheets. When they are cooked, take out of the oven, & put them in a paper cone at the drying oven.

Another manner.
You will take a pound & half wholewheat flour: cook twenty ounces of sugar to the small feather; you will pour it in a mortar; let it cool & afterwards put in the flour, six fresh eggs & a spoonful of orange flower water; pound the whole together one quarter-of-an-hour, & pour out of the mortar onto a clean table, & roll the aforementioned paste in rolls, as large as a hazel nut, & cook in an oven until hot [cooked through or set] and sweet-smelling. Here is a recipe with proportions of ingredients. These biscotins also enclose a hazelnut, or you could use a whole almond. The orange flower water makes a delightful taste and smell--even better the next day. But be warned! These are very hard on the teeth--dunk them in expresso or mocha to soften them. Enjoy!

Nouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures, les Liqueurs, et les Fruits, François Massialot. Chez Claude Prudhomme, Paris, 1716, pp. 194-196.

Pruneaux & Chocolat Biscotins

Inspired by David Lebovitz' French Chocolate Macarons with Prune Filling I tried my hand at Biscotins using the liquor and some mashed prunes from my Pruneaux instead of marmalade; I also added cocoa to the flour before mixing. I used the first recipe from my previous biscotins post.

I used about 1 3/4 cups of flour and 1/4 cup cocoa to the 3 egg whites [remember these old recipes seldom contain propotions, and most officers and cooks seldom shared tips--it was way too much flour!]. In my mind I was seeing Italian-type biscotti--and these cookies were definitely dry and hard when baked. If your teeth are old like mine, I highly recommend a good soaking of the cookie in coffee or other liquid before biting and chewing. However, if you have a good cup of strong coffee and some time to savour each morsel, you will not be disappointed.

Next post: more on biscotins.