I received Luca Montersino’s Le Dolci Tentazioni (sweet temptations) cookbook for my birthday in July. Until recently, it sat on my bookshelf collecting dust. Montersino is known for his “healthy” pastry recipes. Many of them are gluten free, substitute olive oil for butter and use grains like kamut and quinoa instead of more processed grains. I decided to make his diamantini di cioccolato, riso e caffè gluten free biscotti. The photo was appealing, the recipe easy and chocolate and coffee are two of my vices.
Diamantini di Cioccolato, Riso e Caffè (Small diamonds of Chocolate, Rice & Coffee)
Ingredients
450 gr (2 cups) butter 250 gr (2 1/4 cups) powdered sugar 40 gr (1.5 oz) egg yolks 25 g (approx 1 oz) eggs 500 gr (2 1/2 cups) rice flour 60 gr (1/2 cup) cocoa powder 150 gr (2/3 cup) sugar 5 gr (1 tsp) instant espressoCombine butter, powdered sugar, egg yolks, eggs, rice flour and cocoa powder in the order in which they are listed. Work the dough until it is firm. Divide into 200 gr (7 oz) portions. Shape into circular loaves of approximately 40 cm (15 inches) in length. Mix the sugar and instant espresso together and place on a non-stick surface. Roll each loaf in the sugar/instant espresso mixture and cut into 3 cm (approx 1 inch) pieces. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 180 C (350 F) for 15 minutes. This recipe yields 140 biscotti.
I was a bit worried when I mixed the ingredients together, rolled out the dough and it looked a little less than appetizing!
Once the dough was coated in sugar and espresso and cut it started to look edible, whew…
15 minutes later and out came a tray of sparkling gems.
The cookies were melt in your mouth-crumbly and packed a chocolate punch. Serve them warm or at room temperature. The next time I make them, I’ll try reducing the quantity of butter.
Luca Montersino’s desserts are available at Eataly in NYC and at Golosi di Salute pastry shops in Italy. Unfortunately, his blog “Peccati di Gola“ is only published in Italian at this time.
