Falling in love with Italy
And my irresistible cantucci
I have a confession to make. I may be a Francophile, but Italy has also claimed a big piece of my heart – and it’s not just because of my name.
To me, Italy has everything I adore. The gifts that make life a joy: great food and wine, art and culture, beautiful landscapes and lovely, warm people. Oh, and really good coffee.
Come the weekend, I’m either cooking French or Italian food while listening to French or Italian music and drinking French or Italian wine, and though Italian cuisine is still a work in progress (I hope my Italian friends have mercy on my humble attempts), I do have a lot of fun discovering new regions, trying out new recipes and then finding good vini to pair them with. Last weekend, I was hugely inspired by the Italy special of the Dutch Delicious magazine, where I was introduced to recipes like spezzatino (a meat stew with potatoes, which I very successfully veganized) and places like Trentino and the wintersport paradise of Cortina d’Amprezzo.
One of the recipes I revamped was my take on cantucci (oblong-shaped, crunchy cookies that are twice-baked, resulting in their characteristic dry and crisp texture, perfect for dipping into espresso or vin santo). I had written this recipe years ago, but this time, instead of the rosemary and dark chocolate version, I infused them with zesty orange. My original recipe also called for two eggs, which I replaced with two vegan ‘eggs’ (2 tbsps ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsps water).
Truth be told, I did make one tiny (or big?) mistake when baking the cookies: I forgot to bake the logs first and immediately cut them in pieces instead. Whoops. I now know why the cutting was so difficult, and why I couldn’t stand them up straight for the second bake as I originally did. Nevertheless, the results were incredibly delicious – just ask my husband who has a hard time staying away from that cookie jar!
Here’s the recipe (and here’s a little video to get you in the mood):
Cantucci with dark chocolate & orange
Makes 16 pieces
Ingredients:
200g all-purpose flour
100g granulated sugar
Pinch of fleur de sel
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 organic orange, plus 60ml juice
50g almonds, roasted & chopped
130g dark chocolate, chopped
2 vegan ‘eggs’ (2 tbsps ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsps water)
1 tsp almond extract
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Roast the nuts in an ungreased frying pan until they release their aroma, then coarsely chop them. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, orange zest, chocolate and roasted almonds. In a jug, whisk the vegan ‘eggs,’ almond extract and orange juice. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead briefly. Divide the dough in half and shape each piece into a rectangle of approx. 15 cm in length. Cut each piece into 8 pieces and place them on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 150°C and bake for an additional 35 minutes. Cool and enjoy.
Latest work:
Culinary Grandes Dames, my March food & drinks column for Reader’s Digest UK
Amsterdam’s On-Premise Scene is Coming of Age, published in Global Drinks Intel