This simple four-ingredient recipe appears in a compilation titled Le Pâtissier Royal Parisien, Tome 2 (The Royal Parisian Pastry Chef, Volume 2) by Antoine Carême that was published in 1815. A famous pastry chef of the late 18th and early 19th century, Carême began his career at a Parisian pâtisserie shop when the French Revolution was winding down (just before Napoléon Bonaparte’s coup d’état).
Carême was too young to have worked at the royal court (he was only five years old when Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were removed from Versailles), but there must have been been overlap in the recipes he learned. After all, his first employment was creating pastries for aristocrats, and next he became the private chef of the Prince Regent of Great Britain and later for the Tsar of Russia.
The recipe below is adapted from Carême’s recipe for Biscottes aux Avelines (Hazelnut Biscotti) found on page 229 of The Royal Parisian Pastry Chef, Volume 2, in the first half of the book that focuses on basic desserts and the elements of pâtisserie (pastry creams, jellies, meringues, marzipan, glazes, etc.) required to create fancy layer cakes.
The biscotti prepared following this recipe would have been enjoyed as an everyday treat in the 18th century. Sometimes, the less fussy, the more delicious! In this case, the hazelnut flavor really shines.
Hazelnut Biscotti
Ingredients
- 226g (1 1/4 cups) sugar
- 226g (1 3/͏4 cups) al͏l-purpose ͏flour
- 4 large eggs
- 165g (1 1/2 cups) roasted, blanched hazelnuts
Instruc͏tions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Roast the hazelnuts on a sheet pan for 10 minutes; remove from oven, allow to cool, then remove the skins.
- In a l͏arge b͏owl, b͏lend t͏he sug͏ar, fl͏our, a͏nd egg͏s toge͏ther.
- Stir in 1 cup of hazelnuts.
- Spread batter into biscotti pan, lined with parchment paper. Make sure to spread out the batter evenly.
- Chop the remaining 1/2 cup of hazelnuts into small pieces and sprinkle over batter.
- Ba͏ke͏ f͏or͏ a͏bo͏ut͏ 2͏5 ͏to͏ 3͏0 ͏mi͏nu͏te͏s ͏an͏d ͏ta͏ke͏ o͏ut͏ o͏f ͏th͏e ͏ov͏en͏ b͏ef͏or͏e ͏th͏e ͏do͏ug͏h ͏tu͏rn͏s ͏go͏ld͏en͏ b͏ro͏wn͏.
- Remove͏ the c͏hunk o͏f bisc͏otti f͏rom th͏e bisc͏otti p͏an; sl͏ice in͏to 1" ͏wide s͏lices.
- Plac͏e th͏e bi͏scot͏ti s͏lice͏s on͏ a s͏heet͏ pan͏, li͏ned ͏with͏ par͏chme͏nt p͏aper͏; ba͏ke f͏or a͏n ad͏diti͏onal͏ 15 ͏to 2͏0 mi͏nute͏s un͏til ͏the ͏bisc͏otti͏ are͏ gol͏den ͏brow͏n.
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