Coconut & Vanilla

Cantucchini with Pistachios & Sour Cherries (& White Chocolate if you like)

yields: about 40 cookies

Ingredients:

• 300 g wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 170 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 pinch of salt
• 75 g dried sour cherries
• 75 g shelled pistachios
• 100 g white chocolate (optional)

Place the ingredients, except the pistachios and cherries in a bowl and knead until a firm dough has formed and the ingredients are all incorporated. Add the pistachios and cherries and mix in.

Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll it out into logs, which are as long as your baking sheet is wide. Place them onto the sheet and bake them at 180°C for 20-25 minutes. They should be golden brown.

Take them out of the oven and let them cool off a bit, but not entirely! Cut the logs slantwise into 2,5 cm thick slices. Place the slices upright on the sheet and bake for another 10 minutes.

Let them cool off and store in an airtight container.

If you like to add white chocolate to you cantucchini. Melt the chocolate and dip the cookies halfway in the chocolate. Let the cantucchini dry on parchment paper or a cake rack.

White Strawberry-Chocolate with Mint

yields: 3 bars

Ingredients:

• 300 g white chocolate
• 1/2 Tbsp finely chopped mint (I used chocolate mint)
• 1 Tbsp strawberry powder, freeze-dried
• 2 Tbsp strawberry bits, freeze-dried

Chop the chocolate finely. The more finer the chocolate is chopped, the more faster and evenly it will melt. Prepare a double boiler, the water should have 55° C. Melt the chocolate in the double boiler until it has 40 – 45° C. Stir with the spatula and scrape down the chocolate from the sides. Don’t forget to measure the temperature and to remove the chocolate from the thermometer after every measurement.

On the side prepare a cold bain-marie. I use cold water with 3 or 4 ice cubes, but essentially it shouldn’t have over 25° C. While stirring, cool down the chocolate to 26 – 27° C.

In the meantime cool down the water in the double to 35° C by adding some cold water. Reheat the chocolate, whilst stirring and measuring the temperature. The chocolate should have 28 – 29° C. Mix in the mint and the strawberry powder.

Add the tempered chocolate to the moulds and try to share it between the moulds equally. Work quickly to prevent forming grease rims. Now jiggle and joggle up and down to spread the chocolate evenly. Tap the mould on the countertop to prevent air pockets. Place the strawberry bits on the bars and press the slightly in the chocolate.

If you have some free space in the fridge, lay your mould on a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes in the fridge. Never lay the mould directly on the shelves and do not let them touch the rear cover of the fridge, as it is too cold there.

The bars have to dry at least for 2 hours (if you have warm weather place the bars in the fridge for the whole time). Then cover them with a kitchen towel and turn the mould around. Voilá, the most gorgeous chocolate bars in the world!

If you want to make chocolate bars with whole milk or dark chocolate (or a mixed one) read the recipe in this post.