Sunday, July 11, 2010

SMS: Sour Cherry and Almond Biscotti



This week's recipe for the Sweet Melissa Bakers was Sour Cherry and Almond Biscotti which was selected this week  by Tracey of Made by Tray Tray.  And you have got to go to her website because she gets to list the recipe there and it is well worth the the visit. Yummy recipe. Thanks Tracey!

That said, I'm just grateful it turned out. We're talking a serious substitution made in the recipe here. I blame myself for not thinking ahead when planning the recipe...only excuse I can make is that  I've been distracted this past week with hounding my rental office for my new lease as the current one is expiring at the end of this month. Long story short, I panic easily (I'll be evicted sort of thing) and they were late in getting it to me. So when I was at the store this morning picking up almonds and cherries, I though idly of picking up butter just to be on the safe side but then decided against it convinced I knew I  had picked up butter the last time I was there.

I hadn't.

There was no butter in the house. None. Well maybe a tiny sliver but not nearly enough for the recipe. So in desperation (it was hot, I was lazy, I didn't want to have to go out) I googled and figured that substituting cream cheese might work. And fortunately for me, I had a brick of cream cheese so I threw that in figuring at least I would have a good time tasting the recipe until I threw the flour in.

My other change which was not so drastic was to throw in some tart cherries instead of dried sour cherries. And that was because it was early, I wanted to go home because I hadn't had my caffeine yet, and I had to stop by the rental office again to make sure they didn't forget about me. In other words, I didn't want to have to go out of my way to run around the store trying to find them.

And okay, so I skipped rolling the dough into logs partially because the biscotti I've had before has been the more rustic version with slightly jagged edges and long crunchy pieces. Also I was panicking slightly because the dough seem very soft, I was regretting the cream cheese decision and wondering what kind of mutant cookie was going to come out of the oven as a result. I was figuring either some flat misshapen thing or a dough that rose high and looked more like a cake than a cookie. Plus we still have to factor in the laziness factor of not wanting to go through the extra step of rolling and slicing.

But apart from that, I kept to the recipe :)

Honestly. And one of these days I really am going to do Melissa justice by following one of her recipes as she calls for it to be made.

What was great about this is that the recipe actually turned out. And granted I am not a biscotti expert, but this tasted pretty darn good compared to the biscotti I've had before even with the cream cheese substitution. Would definitely make this again. My only hope is that I can stay away from the rest of them long enough to dump on my coworkers Monday instead of eating them myself.

Great pick, Tracey. Thanks!

15 comments:

  1. Oh man after all that stress in the kitchen your biscotti turned out..yippee! It looks great and I love the picture.

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  2. It must have been frustrating but I enjoyed your desription and I am guessing that the cream cheese just might have made them better tasting.

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  3. I had to come back and tell you that I love your photo.

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  4. Love your picture! Looks great!

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  5. I love the idea of substituting cream cheese. I think that might make a great cookie even better! Great picture, too.

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  6. Sounds like it was a rather stressful day! I think they look great and I did use butter and still had issues with the dough being a little too soft. I think the cream cheese was a stroke of genius!

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  7. How cool! I'm glad this substitution worked out for you. I might have to try subbing cream cheese in for butter in other recipes in the future!!! :)

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  8. I'm so glad it worked out for you! Cream cheese is an interesting sub for butter - and one I'm going to have to try! Thanks for baking this week!

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  9. LOL! Your post cracked me up. I love the creativity of the substitutions. And your biscotti look delicious!

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  10. Haha I love that you made them work with what you had in your house! I'm so bad about that - if I don't have an ingredient (especially a seemingly important one like butter) I get crippled and can't think outside the box. Brilliant idea w/the cream cheese, glad they turned out well :)

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  11. Your substitutions crack me up! I've come away from the grocery store without the stuff I need so many times. It drives me crazy!

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  12. What a smart cookie you are, substituting cream cheese for butter. I never would have thought of that!! And it does sound like a fantastic substitution. YOur biscotti look great!

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  13. I'm not a biscotti fan but I do make it once a year as a gift for a relative who loves it. I'm glad your substitutions worked out! I would have been nervous, too, about using cream cheese instead of butter, but if it worked in the end, that's awesome!

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  14. I'm impressed with your determination to make these. I'm sure I would have given up when I realized I didn't have enough butter. I agree that the flavor of these cookies was great, and it may have been that much better with the added cream cheese!

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  15. It looks like the biscotti turned out great, despite the substitutions. I fear running out of butter and always try to have about two pounds on hand.

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