I don’t know about you, but I don’t make biscotti often. Something about that double baking requirement, often leaves me a bit too impatient. If I crave chocolate, I want it now, not two bakes later.

There are several exceptions to the rule, and Claudia Fleming’s recipe for chocolate biscotti is one of them. The pictures probably don’t do the recipe much justice. So perhaps I could offer a few words of advice instead.

1. I’ve actually made this recipe repeatedly, but I don’t think many (or any) of my friends are aware of it. It’s so good, it’s like a reclusive celebrity that rarely leaves the house.
2. It’s like a crispy brownie.
3. It’s the only version of hard tack that I’d ever want to take into a battle field. A baking battle field, that is.
4. If you can’t be bothered to bake it the second time, it actually tastes pretty darn awesome already, after the first bake.

And with that, cue recipe.

Chocolate and cranberry biscotti :
(based on a recipe from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming)

130g dried cranberries
290g whole unblanched almonds
325g plain flour
360g dark brown sugar
100g caster sugar
100g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs
60g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons coffee extract
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
210g 70% chocolate chips

Place the cranberries in a bowl. Pour enough boiling water over to cover. Allow to cool then drain.

Preheat oven to 160’C.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and set on low speed, mix together the flour, sugars, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the butter and extracts, mixing to combine. Stir in the almonds, chocolate and cranberries. Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.

With wet hands, divide the dough into 2 logs, each 2 inches in diameter. Place them on lined baking trays and bake until firm. 30-35 minutes. Cool completely on rack. At this point, I prefer to chill the logs in the fridge for a few hours to make it easier to slice.

Using a serrated knife, slice each log on the diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange on lined baking sheets and dry in a 95’C oven for 1 to 1/2 hours until firm and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Have you ever tried doing a skillet cookie, she asked.

Well no, actually I hadn’t, and was kicking myself that I didn’t think of it sooner. It seems almost a logical conclusion to reach, from skillet cakes to cookies. I suspect skillet cookies are the ultimate lazy but impressive dinner party dessert, brought to the table in all it’s piping hot glory, and served straight from the pan.

Try baking your favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe in a skillet by pressing the cookie dough into the skillet and baking for about 30 minutes or until just set. A standard chocolate chip recipe yielding roughly 24 cookies should be sufficient for a large 9 inch skillet. Or try my recipe below, which is based on Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito’s Black Forest Chocolate Cookie recipe as appears in Baked.

This skillet version of their cookie is best described as an amplified version of a brownie. A brownie cookie on ‘roids, if you will, with a crackingly good crust (my favourite part of any brownie) and slightly oozy interior (especially if you dig in while it’s still warm). Serve with vanilla ice-cream if you have no hips to speak of and would like some.

Black Forest Skillet Cookie :

220g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
75g unsalted butter
85g brown sugar
120g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
55g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
80g dark chocolate chips (60% – 70% cocoa)
80g milk chocolate chips
80g dried sour cherries (or dried cherries/cranberries)

Preheat the oven to 175’C. Arrange a rack on the lower third of the oven.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl and set aside.

Melt the 220g dark chocolate and butter together in a bowl over a bain-marie (or in the microwave). Stir and set aside to cool.

In an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugars on high speed until the mixture is pale and thick. Add the vanilla extract and cooled chocolate mixture and beat until just combined.

Fold the flour into the chocolate/egg mixture, then both the chocolate chips and dried cherries.

Scrape the mixture into a 7 1/2 inch skillet (if your skillet is larger or smaller, adjust baking time accordingly) and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the edges are well browned and the top is set. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve straight from pan.

If there’s one thing you can be certain of in life, is that the uncertain will always happen.

Shuna has written more eloquently about change before. I on the other hand, have at times attempted to fumble through some sort of explanation. An explanation about my long absence from blogging. About how a friend can possibly tell from my tweets alone, that I have been feeling sad and deflated. About why I’m leaving, despite writing to every possible friend and family member in my address book only a year ago, to tell them about the dream job I had just landed.

I considered fumbling, but finally decided not to. I had an epiphany not too long ago. Not quite the kind that involves dropping everything and moving to a far corner of the Earth to help save endangered wild life, but still something along similar lines of acquiring personal happiness and satisfaction.

When I look up past chapters of my working life, I know there will be many people to miss. Even the guy who delivers our bottled water, who is extremely friendly despite looking like he could tear your head off with one finger. Yep, I’ll miss him too.

So anyway. Can we talk cake?

Admittedly, when I first made this cake, I was a little sceptical, and therein lies the genius of this recipe. It is a ridiculously simple concept that is so clever at the same time, it makes you wish you’d thought of it first. Basically, it’s a thicker version of a chocolate chip cookie, underbaked so that it retains cake-y characteristics. It is incredibly delicious eaten at any time of the day and lasts forever, if there is such a thing as ‘forever’, when it comes to cake.

The cake comes with a ganache that you drizzle over the top, but I have omitted it because I like the cake just as it is. This recipe is in US cup measures. Buy the book if you’re keen to make more New Orleans-style sweets.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake :
(from Dam Good Sweet by David Guas and Raquel Pelzel)

1 stick (113g) butter
1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (58%-62% cacao)
1 cup plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 175’C.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream the butter, light brown sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 15 seconds. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg. Blend on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and combine on low speed until just a few dry streaks remain. Add the chocolate chips and mix for a few seconds until combined.

Scrape the batter into a greased and lined 10-inch round cake tin. Press the batter into a smooth and even layer in the pan. Bake until lightly golden and puffy around the edges (the center should still feel quite soft), 18 – 22 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and then run a paring knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Cool for at least 4 hours before turning the cake out of the pan and onto a large plate.