I know this week has been hard for many of us, but I have found that sharing memories and funny stories of Kalpna has greatly helped. And so, I share this random memory...
January 2005: After a satisfying meal and tons of laughs at Amarin Thai, Kalpna and I had gone back to hang out at her parents place in Mountain View. As I walked into the house, I smelled a wonderful, comforting scent coming from the kitchen. Kalpna explained that she had been baking almond biscotti earlier that evening as a way of saying thank you to all the people who had donated to her fund for the 3 day breast cancer walk. Almond biscotti with anise seeds was her way of saying thank you to all the friends and family members who had supported her...
(Needless to say, I was ecstatic when she let me gobble down 5 pieces of the yummy biscotti)
A few days later, she forwarded me the recipe. I've kept the recipe in my email box these past few years because the biscotti was obviously delicious...but also because I was proud of Kalpna for participating in the fight against breast cancer, something which had personally affected my own mother. For me, that biscotti represented Kalpna's compassion toward others, her desire to fight the good fight, and her gratitude to those who have helped along the way. And so, I wanted to share the recipe with which Kalpna said "thank you,"as a thank you to her for being an amazing friend and as a thank you to those who have touched her life.
Enjoy!!! (see comments)
-- Ankita
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Biscotti Recipe
(Italian Twice Baked Cookie)
Almond and Anise
Basic Biscotti Dough
½ pound butter, melted and cooled (2 sticks)
6 medium eggs or 5 large eggs
2 ½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon almond extract
1 tablespoon anise extract
1 heaping tablespoon anise seeds, rub between palms of hands
1 cup of almonds, not toasted, skins on
4 cups all purpose flower
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 gallon size freezer bag
baking parchment paper
Melt half pound of butter and let cool. In a large bowl, beat the eggs by hand until well mixed. Do not add air volume. Add the 2 ½ cups of sugar and the cooled butter. Mix well. Again, do not add air volume. Add flavorings, seeds and nuts. Stir Again.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Dough will be slightly sticky (do not add more flour). Place in gallon size bag. Flatten dough and chill for a minimum of 3 hours.
Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from freezer bag and turn out onto a board that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Cut dough into two, four or 6ix pieces. Place logs onto a parchment covered baking sheet (the dough will spread, so you may need to separate this batch in three baking sheets). Sprinkle powered sugar over the logs (optional). Depending on the size of the logs, bake for 15 to 25 minutes. Remove from over and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove one log from the pan and place it on the cutting board. Using a serrated knife and a sawing motion cut the loaf into ½ and ¾ inch slices. You may cut the log o the diagonal if you wish. This is the Italian style. Or you can do as the Greeks and cut strait across. Cut all the loaves. Place the cookies cut side down back on the parchment paper and bake again at 275 degrees until they are a nice golden brown. This may take anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes. You may have to turn the cookies over once. The fresher the Almonds, the longer the baking time.
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