After Pesah….Time for baking! Here is my mom’s recipe for making Biscochos! (you asked ….here it is!) Biscochos are often called tea biscuits. We think of them as a “biscotti”, a crunchy treat! Biscochos are a bit sweet and are wonderful with your morning coffee (could be afternoon or evening coffee or tea or even milk, for that matter!!) If you’ve been to our home, my mom’s house, our synagogue, you’ve had my mom’s Biscochos. They are ‘twice baked,’ which gives them that extra crunch. A very special part of our cultural repertoire.
They’re made with love – that, you can definitely taste it!
Here’s the recipe. My mother takes great pleasure in sharing her recipes and techniques and having her ‘students’ excel on their baking journey. Give them a try! And let us know how you’re enjoying them!
Ingredients:
1 Cup eggs
1 C sugar
3/4 C oil
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
5 – 7 C flour
Topping:
1 egg + 1 drop of water, beaten well
sesame seeds
(alternative to sesame seeds: cinnamon and sugar or “sprinkles”)
These are my mom’s directions:
With electric mixer, beat eggs and oil in a mixing bowl. Add sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until well blended. Add flour and baking powder gradually, knead into a medium dough until no longer sticky.
*The ‘Cup’ method of method of measuring eggs is important. Eggs come in different sizes – Medium, Large, Jumbo. By measuring by the Cup, one is more likely to get a more uniform measure. It makes a significant enough difference. Get as close to 1 Cup as possible.
Place onto floured work area and finish kneading dough with additional flour as needed. Dough should not be sticky as long as you can handle it without it sticking to your hands.
Take walnut-sized pieces and roll down on table with palms of hands into a rope about 5 inches long and only 1/2 inch thick.
Press down with fingers to create channel;
Fold rope over and cut slits into the edge.
Join into a bracelet shape. Brush egg on top side.
Dip top side into sesame seeds. (or sprinkles)
If using cinnamon/sugar on top, no egg wash needed.
Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 12 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from pan. Allow to cool.
After they are cooled, return to oven at 200 degrees for one hour. This is where they get that extra crunch – the all important ‘biscucharing’ process.
Now……time to sit down with a cup of coffee and a Biscocho and relax!
~Bendichas Manos
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 a film by Ruggero Gabbai, historical research by Liliana Picciotto and Marcello Pezzetti. image2.JPGOn July 23, 1944, the Nazis deported almost the entire Jewish population of the island of Rhodes, while the Italian authorities that had been in charge of the Island from 1912 until the Armistice of September 8, 1943, stood by. It was late in the war, and German capitulation seemed imminent, yet the Nazi commanders did not hesitate to inflict the longest journey their criminal machine had ever planned, on this small, vibrant community nestled in this faraway island. The journey took 24 days under harrowing conditions, an atrocious transition from the Mediterranean sun to the grey hell of Auschwitz.The Longest Journey weaves together testimonies of some of the few Jews to have survived Auschwitz, focusing on Stella Levi, Sami Modiano and Albert Israel. image3.JPGThe survivors, along with the film crew, returned to Rhodes from their respective lives in New York, Rome and Brussels. Each one with a powerful cinematic presence, the three recount memories of family and communal life, interactions with the local Greeks, Turks and Italians, cultural transitions, as well as the tragic last days of their community. The film provides a kaleidoscopic view of Jewish life in Rhodes under Italian dominion before the War.image5.JPGThrough the lens of these narrators, their early lives in Rhodes unfold as a sort of paradise lost.’See it now, on Demandhttps//vimeo.com/ondemand/longestjourney/169693284 image1.jpeg)
‘Trezoros: The Lost Jews of Kastoria’ is airing on PBS stations across the United States THIS WEEK- check your local listings. ( These are a few we saw listed. Check local listings.
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