Christmas red cup gingerbread biscotti

Sometimes I hate myself for being so susceptible to the sorcery of the marketing man. Gingerbread flavoured coffee in red coffee shop cups should not be something I look forward to. But I do. This is something I conjured up to accompany it. These are great to give as presents, in part because they have a two-week shelf life, so you can make them a good week ahead of Christmas.

INGREDIENTS

50g blanched whole almonds

1 large egg

95g soft dark brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 cloves, ground

2 peppercorns, ground

130g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

2 pieces stem ginger, finely chopped

sunflower oil, (optional)

50g white chocolate, broken into pieces, (optional)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Scatter the almonds on an ungreased baking tray and bake until just brown, around 10 minutes. Mind them, as they go from brown to burnt in seconds.

Mix the egg, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and peppercorns until pale, thick and creamy, about 4 minutes with an electric mixer and 7 minutes with a wooden spoon. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and almonds until combined.

Line a baking tray with non-stick greaseproof paper. Oil your hands if the mixture is too sticky and shape it into a 20 x 10 cm rectangle on the baking tray. Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes, until brown. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes.

Transfer the log to a wooden board – be careful as it will be very hot – and use a serrated knife to cut into thin slices, about 1 cm wide. Lay the slices sideways on the tray and bake for another 10–15 minutes until lovely and golden. Watch the ends as they have a tendency to burn. Remove these from the oven a little earlier if needs be and let cool on a wire rack.

If you fancy a chocolate covering for your biscotti, place the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and melt using short bursts of the microwave, stirring each time. White chocolate is quick to burn, so alternatively you can pop the bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom does not touch the water. Gently stir with a wooden spoon until melted.

Leave the chocolate to cool a little. Rest the biscotti on a wire rack over greaseproof paper and drizzle the chocolate over the biscotti. Leave for 2 hours to set before gift wrapping.

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