April 20, 2018
Growing up biscotti were not ubiquitous the way they are now.
Remember, this was before the coffee shop craze swept the country and when Italian food was viewed as “foreign.”
Sure, one could get biscotti in Italian specialty stores. There was even a marginally passable supermarket version from Stella d’Oro. (It still exists though the company has been sold many times.)
But mostly, biscotti were homemade.
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My mother’s biscotti are a little softer on the inside than the standard biscotti today, which seem to have a crunch the whole way through. She also made them much smaller than is now common, maybe three inches or so in length as opposed to six or eight.
The interesting ingredient in these biscotti is maraschino cherries. The maraschino cherry as we Americans know it was a product of food science from the 1920’s and 30’s. “Real” maraschino cherries, Marasca cherries from the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, pickled in salt water and preserved in Maraschino liqueur, are actually quite rare. There are many versions of cherries preserved in liquor from throughout Europe, some clearly developed as substitutes for authentic maraschino cherries.
I remember eating these biscotti in the 1960’s so the recipe is at least that old, probably older. It is unlikely, however, that these biscotti ever saw real maraschino cherries due to their rarity.
If this recipe dates to pre-prohibition, in which case it would have been from my grandmother or someone in her generation, it’s possible that some sort of cherry preserved in alcohol (on the order of a real maraschino cherry) was originally used. I have no idea if the recipe is that old.
Since liquor-soaked cherries were outlawed during prohibition they would have been eliminated from this recipe even if it is that old. Which brings us to a dichotomy in thinking about recipes that I often consider: the difference between authentic and traditional.
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Is food authentically Italian if it’s prepared in Italy by an Italian but does not follow any traditional recipe?
If cioppino is made following a longstanding traditional Italian regional recipe but the cook substitutes seafood available in the United States for that available in Italy, is it authentic?
There is no doubt that these biscotti are traditional in my family, having been made for more than 50 years. But what would make them authentic? And for that matter, would it be authentically Italian or authentically Italian-American?
I suggest you mull that over while dunking biscotti in your morning caffe latte.
| Prep Time | 45 minutes |
| Cook Time | 2 hours |
| Passive Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
dozen large biscotti
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- 12 cups all purpose flour
- 4 cups sugar
- 13 teaspoons baking powder (1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon)
- 6 eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil such as corn oil
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 x 16 ounce jar maraschino cherries
- 1/2 pound walnuts chopped, optional
- 1 ounce anise extract not anise oil
- 1 egg beaten for glazing
Ingredients
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Rate this recipe!
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- Drain the cherries.
- Cut the cherries in quarters.
- Squeeze out excess liquid by gently pressing a small handful of cut cherries between your flat palms. Do not make a fist and do not smash the cherries. Reserve the cherries.
- In a very large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and baking powder using your hands.
- Make a well in the center.
- Add the eggs.
- Begin to incorporate some of the flour into the eggs working in a circular motion using your hands.
- Add the oil and butter and continue mixing.
- Add the milk and anise extract. Mix thoroughly.
- Add the cherries and nuts, if using.
- Fully incorporate the cherries and nuts.
- Form into six or twelve cylinders approximately 9 ½ inches long. Six cylinders will make biscotti that are quite long once cut crosswise. Twelve cylinders will make shorter biscotti.
- Bake the cylinders for 30 minutes at 350°F. You can line the sheet pan with parchment if you prefer.
- Brush the tops with beaten egg.
- Bake 5 to 10 minutes longer, until golden brown and the cylinders are cooked through. Larger cylinders will take longer to bake.
- Cool the baked cylinders on the baking pan on a cooling rack for approximately 10 minutes.
- Cut the baked cylinders crosswise on the diagonal into slices approximately 1 inch thick.
- Cool the slices completely.
- Lay the slices cut side down on a baking pan.
- Toast in the top rack of the oven at 450°F.
- Turn and toast the other side.
- Remove biscotti to a rack to cool.
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Cherries! I’ll have to try that. My recipe goes back to the 1971 ed. of Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes, Twice-Baked Italian Cookies. Very similar to your recipe, NOT tooth breakers which is why I like them. (I’m not a “dunker” the only reason for the hard ones!) Anise seed & anise flavoring or liquer, chopped walnuts or almonds. One of my 3 have-to’s for Christmas baking, what my kids always ask for :).
Thanks, Karen
Yes, give the cherries a try! We never used anise seed, only anise extract, though I could see how the seeds would work. In pizzelle, we always used anise oil (which is much more concentrated than extract). In biscotti we always used anise extract for a more subtle flavor. In anise sweet bread we always used the seeds.
Anise( fennel) seeds will not give the flavor you need from extract or oil. I’m familiar with this recipe for eighty years. My mom always made them.
We always used anise extract for these and anise oil for pizzelle.
Rasured everything exact, but my dough seems too wet.
What should I do???
Without actually seeing the dough, my advice would be to add a bit more flour.
These are the “ones” Mom made. Thank you, made them for Christmas, thank you kinda late. But making them again, today !
Great! Thank you for letting me know!