Signature Sunday – Lemon Cake Biscotti
I’m always looking for new ways to make biscotti, and lately I have had a craving for lemon cake, so I thought it might be interesting to try to combine the two. The result turned out to be about four dozen slices of heaven.
Ingredients:
- 1 stick of margarine, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, beaten with a little salt sprinkled in
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- zest of one lemon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
I like to make the dough for biscotti in a bread maker on the dough cycle, but you could easily do this with a mixer as well.
First, the margarine goes into the mixer.
Next, goes the sugar. If you are mixing this in a standard mixer, at this point I would blend the two together until nice and fluffy.
Next, add the flour and baking powder, though again, if you are using a standard mixer, I would add the liquid ingredients before the dry ones.
The beaten eggs go on top of that, along with the vanilla and lemon extracts.
Finally, zest one lemon over the top.
Smells heavenly.
During the dough cycle, go in and scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times to get everything incorporated.
Once the dough is mixed, it is really sticky, so I cover and put it in the fridge for about an hour, though you could probably leave it there for up to a day if you need to.
The dough can be divided into three equal balls that are then rolled out and flattened into loaves. I like my biscotti to be a little on the short side, rather than the big long ones you might see in a cafe. They’re cuter, and they fit into gift boxes more easily.
The loaves are baked for twenty minutes at 350 degrees. I use parchment paper on the baking sheets to keep the bottoms from scorching.
After 20 minutes, remove the loaves from the oven and let them cool for at least five minutes.
A nice light brown on the bottom.
Then slice them into 1/2-inch portions, ideally on an angle. Eat the ends to get a sense of how they will end up tasting…mmmmm.
Rebake the slices for five minutes, and then turn them over and bake for five more.
Once they are cool, you can drizzle them with an icing made of:
- 2 tbs light corn syrup
- 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 tbs milk (though you can add more until you reach the right consistency)
- 1 tsp lemon extract
Mix these together in a small bowl and then drizzle over the biscotti. (I used an icing bottle to do this.)
The icing dries clear, but tastes delicious!
