daring bakers: nougatine

the daring bakers are back! kicking 2009 off in style, this month's challenge is brought to us by karen of bake my day and zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka kochtopf. they have chosen tuiles from the chocolate book by angélique schmeink and nougatine and chocolate tuiles from michel roux. i decided to make michel roux’s nougatine.

nougatine sounds very simple – toasted almonds mixed with melted sugar that has caramelised. this is then poured onto an oiled baking sheet and you cut out shapes which you can then mould into something that looks pretty. obviously it’s not that simple!

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lavender and orange cantuccini

italian cantuccini are crunchy (they are baked twice so they dry out) almond biscuits, traditionally from tuscany. having bought many different types over the years i thought it was time to try making my own. dried lavender from my friend liz’s garden provided me with the flavour inspiration i needed.

these biscuits are usually served with coffee or sweet wine. i prefer these with sweet wine, not least as this really brings out the orange flavour.

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