So, I joined another internet baking group. At least I had my husband make me promise I wouldn’t sign up for any swaps this year, right?! So, this new group, Sweet Melissa Sundays, is baking a new recipe from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book each week. I got the book for Christmas, so I basically HAD to sign up, right??!!
This week’s recipe, Honey Beescotti, was chosen by Lorelei of Mermaid Sweets. You can check out her blog for the full recipe. The highlight of these biscotti was the candied orange peel. It is apparently available at candy shops, but I signed up for this challenge exactly one day before going on vacation, so I didn’t have time to hunt it down. Luckily, it is a cinch to make at home. Some recipes said it takes hours, but I followed Giada’s recipe from the Food Network, and made them while doing the dishes. Literally, doing the dishes and making candied orange peel at the same time. And we couldn’t stop eating them! I am lucky I had enough for the cookies.
On to the cookies. I liked them, but I didn’t love them, mainly because of the caraway seeds. I have nothing against caraway seeds; I just used half a jar in Irish Soda Bread for St. Patty’s Day and loved it. But in this recipe, I found the flavor off-putting. I would bite into the cookie and think, “Wow, this is delicious.” And then I would hit a caraway seed and go, “Huh?” So, I want to try the recipe again without the caraway seeds. Also, I really can’t stand almond extract. There are a few things I’ll allow it in, but not many. I didn’t want to leave it out altogether, though, so instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract, I added 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and only 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. And they were plenty almond extract-y, so I really can’t imagine how they tasted with the full amount! And I don’t know about anybody else, but I didn’t have any chestnut honey lying around! So I used organic wildflower honey (very fancy)…from Albertson’s. š
1 orange
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Peel the orange. Giada says to use a vegetable peeler, but I used a sharp paring knife and cut thin slices. Try to get as little of the white peel as possible. Bring a small saucepan of water up to a boil and add the orange peels. Allow them to boil for 1 minute, then remove and rinse with cold water. Repeat the boiling and rinsing steps. Meanwhile, mix the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add orange peels, reduce heat, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove orange peels from sugar and place on parchment paper to dry. When peels are cool and only slightly sticky, roll them in granulated sugar.
Wow! Your biscotti turned out great! Yay for the first Sweet Melissa Sunday. I’m with you: it was definitely part of the experience to make the candied orange peel!
Beautiful photos, they turned out really great! Your candied orange looks perfect!
Your biscotti look wonderful! Sorry you weren’t a huge fan of the caraway seeds in these. I wasn’t really sure how I’d feel about them but ended up liking them. They sound great in Irish soda bread. Your candied orange peel turned out perfectly, I also couldn’t believe how easy Giada’s recipe was.
Love your bunch o’ biscotti! My opinion of the biscotti is precisely the same as yours – those caraway seeds keep catching me in mid chew. I don’t hate them, but they just didn’t work in this recipe. The candied orange was great.
Nancy
wow! how did you get your biscottis to come so perfectly shaped?
wildflower honey? talk about high-class and gourmet! yum!
I think that your biscotti look beautiful! I agree that making the candied orange peel was a great part of this recipe and I couldn’t stop eating it either.
Yeah, I left out the caraway seeds as well – I think they overpower everything else.
Anyways, the biscotti were good and I think making your own candied orange peel was superb!
Yours look so cute! I love that first photo with the cookies in a star shaped swirly š Beautiful!
They were good. But I agree. Leave out the caraway seeds next time.
I had the same exact reaction as you did to the caraway seeds. I bite one and think yum and then in comes the caraway.
Your biscotti look great!
I think your biscotti came out great. Im glad you enjoyed this recipe. Nice to have you in the SMS group!
Great job, your biscotti look terrific! I left the caraway seeds out and definitely enjoyed the biscotti without them. Looking forward to baking with you!
That candied orange peel looks beautiful. I agree, it was hard not to eat it before it made it into the biscotti. Sorry the biscotti weren’t a huge hit, but they look good.
Your biscotti looks soo good. The orange peel was so easy to make, I am glad I did it. Thanks for joining the group, I look forward to baking along with you.