All About Biscotti

My Biscotti Recipe is taken from my Jewish grandmother's recipe for Mandlebread (or Mandelbrot in Yiddish). But her recipe... or the way she served it was different from all other recipes that I knew of...in 3 ways. First, she would bake the loaves until just moist, like a heavy cake and then frost them before slicing, instead of toasting the slices in the oven untill very crispy, like most other Mandelbreads. Second, she marbleized the loaves with a combination of chocolate and almond dough. Finally, after baking the two loaves, she would frost them with the most delicious and original frosting of butter, dark chocolate, almond, vanilla, a dark coffee mixture, and of course the sugar......Absolutely unforgettable!

So, when I got the idea to make Italian Biscotti, I thought this Mandelbread recipe lent itself perfectly. (I believe that the Italian recipe for Biscotti and the Jewish recipe for Mandelbread are basically identical.) I made the 2 different batches of dough just as my Grandma used to. Then I sliced the loaves when ready....just like moist, but heavier cake. I then returned the slices back to the oven and, as they say, "double baked" them, until they were very crisp and hard. When they cooled, I dipped only the ends into my Grandma's original chocolate, almond, coffee frosting, and laid them carefully on waxed or parchment paper until the frosting hardened. The result: the Best and most genuine tasting Italian Biscotti you've ever eaten