Aniseed Biscotti

My cat 'Don' loves rusk ( the Indian biscotti) so much that it's become impossible for us to eat rusk in his midst. He has polished off 2 kgs in 2 months and I am fed up with this habit of his. He always prefers unflavored rusk to ones that have cumin or fennel or nuts. With my mom- in- law visiting us I wanted to bake something for her to snack on and that's when I found  an old packet of aniseed tucked under one of our kitchen shelves. I remember attending a baking class in Chennai sometimes bakes where we were taught to bake almond aniseed biscotti. I decided it was time I baked some now that I had company who needed snacks to munch on. Don hates Aniseed and flavored essences so I decided to go ahead with some orange flavored aniseed biscotti, and it worked. He hates oranges  so much that he leaves his comfy chair when I open the cake box to have these. 

Biscotti in Italian means 'twice baked' and rusk is the English, Indian version of the same. But I love the word B-i-s-c-o-t-t-i it feels musical when you pronounce it. For that matter anything Italian sounds musical to me :) Aniseed or cake seeds as it's popularly known looks a lot like shahi jeera and tastes like fennel. People often relate it to star anise and even call it vilayti saunf ( foreign fennel). I have not found these in many places, I purchased these from Nuts n Spices , Chennai. It's believed to cure gastritis and menstrual cramps well that should be no wonder since fennel, cumin and carrom seeds are used for the same purpose. I love the aroma fennel seeds give to these biscotti and given a second chance I would definitely improvise using some toasted almonds. I baked two loaves which after the second round of baking came upto 500 gms. Biscotti is softer than the Indian rusk, its more chewy and my mom-in- law loved them for the fact that she didn't need to chew them much :).

Ingredients for Aniseed Biscotti

Flour- 340 g
Baking Powder- 1 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Butter- 110 g
Sugar- 170 g
Eggs- 3
Grated rind of 1/4 orange ( I used 1 tsp orange essence)
Aniseed (cake seeds)- 1/2 tbsp

Directions

Sift the flour, baking  powder and salt and keep aside. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Now add the eggs to the cream mixture one by one and followed by the orange  essence. Fold in the flour and aniseed and refrigerate the dough for about an hour.



 Divide the dough into two logs each measuring 12" x 2". Place the logs on a greased butter paper lined pan and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the logs from the oven and let them cool for 30 minutes.

 The logs will have expanded from the form they were in when placed into the oven and would feel soft. Slice the logs diagonally into 1/2" thick slices once it has cooled for 30 minutes. Bake the slices for 12 minutes. Turn over the slices and bake the other side for 12 minutes too. By now the edges will have become crisp. Cool in an airtight container.

I am craving for something spicy but have been strictly advised to avoid spices. But I can't control my urge to have piping hot rasam and chilli chicken :) I guess you''ll see some spicy dishes very soon here :) Till then ciao ciao !