Fruitcake Biscotti

photo: Eric Diesel

I wasn't quite prepared for the response I got from readers to my reference in the previous column to fruitcake bars. As we all have, I've heard so much snide commentary about fruitcake that I assume that virtually no one besides me likes it. I'm used to it; I'm frequently the only person in the room who likes truly old-fashioned treats -- mincemeat and divinity are another two such. So when I wrote that I was planning to make fruitcake bars as part of my holiday baking, I expected most of whatever response there was to come down on that part of the continuum that goes from the politely bewildered ("Whatever for?") to the outright confrontational ("Whatsamatta you? You crazy?").

What I didn't expect was the level of interest that surfaced from readers. One won me over by sharing the memory of his grandmother's fruitcake bars, the thought of which as a child he concentrated on during the interminable car trip across Michigan. Whatever the memories -- which I am always so honored to have shared with me -- they all told the same basic truths: people associate the winter holidays with baking and with specific treats issued during childhood; and no matter how controversial it is as a cake, turn fruitcake into a cookie and people will want to eat it. Which, arguably, tells an even greater truth -- one that, frankly, many of us in the food and lifestyle biz have either long suspected or figured out -- from chai tea to breakfast cereal to marshmallows, turn anything into a cookie and people will want to eat it.

I can't publish the recipe for fruitcake bars because it's proprietary. But I remembered that long ago, I used to make another fruitcake cookie during the holidays: fruitcake biscotti. I don't remember how I fell out of the habit, but I excavated the recipe and gave it a try during the holiday baking weekend that just passed. The results were as good as I remember, so I decided to print my original recipe for fruitcake biscotti below.

It is not inappropriate to bake biscotti a) at all or b) during the winter holidays. We think of biscotti as either what we buy in the plastic package at the grocery store, located next to the shrink-wrapped pfeffernusse, or as what inhabits the jars marching along the top of the glass case at the coffee house. Thain't a thing wrong with either of those, but biscotti are a worthwhile skill for the home baker to add to their repertoire. These Italian cookies are named for the process of baking twice: once for the initial dough from which the slices are cut, and a second time for the slices themselves. It is this technique that results in the texture, airy but substantial at once, that is the signature of good biscotti and the reason you have the cashier snag you a couple while the barista is pulling your espresso.

Almonds, hazelnuts, chocolate or poppy seeds are the traditional flavors for biscotti, but the candied fruit and peel that inhabit the dense flesh of fruitcake find a lovely footing in the lighter substance of biscotti. The colorful flecks of glacé are offset by crunchy walnuts and a dip of brandied icing that all reference the deep, signature flavors of fruitcake. Bring these biscotti to the cookie exchange or office party or set them out as you trim the tree. They harmonize with everything from party punch to egg nog to, of course, hot coffee. And if they convince you to try a bite of the actual fruitcake that I guarantee you is lurking, unappreciated, somewhere in your holiday home, then my work here is done.

FRUITCAKE BISCOTTI
As they are rich, these cookies are formed more daintily than biscotti typically are. Most grocery stores stock glacé during holiday baking season; look for it either in the baking aisle or with the canned and dried fruit. If you don’t have a rimmed baking sheet or serrated knife, here is a good source for them.

For the biscotti
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1-1/4 cup glacé
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon brandy
Butter for the baking sheet

For the icing
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 - 2 teaspoons brandy

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the butter into a large mixing bowl. Lightly cover the butter with a piece of parchment paper. Set aside to soften.
3. Measure the glacé into a colander. Sprinkle the glacé with 1 teaspoon brandy; shake to coat. Place the colander in the sink to drain while you make the dough.
4. Cut a length of parchment paper to fit inside a rimmed 9 x 13 baking sheet. Place the parchment paper onto the baking sheet. Butter the paper.
5. Measure the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg into a bowl. Stir the dry ingredients together.
6. Once the butter is soft enough to be workable, measure the sugar into the bowl containing the butter. Use an electric mixer to incorporate the butter and sugar until the mixture is thick and pale, approximately 2 minutes.
7. Add the eggs and the almond extract to the butter-sugar mixture. Use the mixer to incorporate all of the ingredients until the mixture is thick and pale, approximately 2 minutes.
8. Hold the bowl containing the dry ingredients over the bowl containing the butter-sugar-egg mixture. Use one hand to hold the mixer and the other hand to shake the flour into the butter-sugar-egg mixture, incorporating the flour into the dough just until the dough holds together and you have used all of the flour.
9. Shake the glacé over the sink to rid it of collected liquid if any. Add the glacé and the walnuts to the bowl containing the dough.
10. Use a silicon spatula or your hands to incorporate the nuts and glacé into the dough.
11. Use your hands to divide the dough in half. Transfer one half of the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Form the dough into a rectangle approximately 1 inch high by 1-1/2 inches wide down one long side of the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough on the other side of the baking sheet. Leave a space of 1 inch on all sides of each log of dough.
12. Place the pan into the oven and bake the dough until it is light brown and slightly cracked along the tops, approximately 30 minutes.
13. While the dough is baking, measure the confectioner's sugar into a bowl.  Drizzle the brandy into the sugar, using a wire whip to incorporate the ingredients together until it forms a thick, fragrant icing.  Set the icing aside while the dough bakes.
14. Once the biscotti rectangles are light brown and slightly cracked along the tops, remove the pan from the oven. Allow the biscotti rectangles to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer each rectangle to the cutting board. Allow the biscotti to cool for 5 more minutes on the cutting board.
15. Once the biscotti rectangles have cooled, use a serrated knife to carefully cut across the biscotti logs to form slices 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick. Carefully transfer the cut biscotti back to the prepared baking sheet, arranging them upright in rows. It is okay if the sides or tops of the cut biscotti touch as long as there is some room for air to circulate.
16. Return the pan to the oven and heat the biscotti for 5 more minutes.
17. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the biscotti to cool for 10 minutes.
18. Once the biscotti have cooled, dip the top of each biscotti in the icing. 
19. Carefully place iced biscotti into an airtight container, laying biscotti on their sides separated by pieces of parchment. Biscotti will keep for up to 4 days.