Make our biscotti, with a German-inspired twist.

Lebkuchen is one of the main things I look forward to eating at Christmastime. The real deal (I get mine in Lidl) are hot with spice, carrying the flavours of black pepper, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. They'll sometimes have a few teensy nuggets of candied peel in too. My favourite are the ones fully coated in an egg-shell delicate layer of white icing, which crumbles away as you bite into the chewy biscuit/cake. They really are a taste of Christmas and I've been obsessed with them since I first tried one at high school in a German language lesson as part of an enrichment exercise (right up my street).

This week I've combined the aromatic, fireside spice scented lebkuchen with a recipe for biscotti (meaning twice cooked). The second spell in the oven dries the cookies out and ensures they'll last for ages snuggled in a tin in the kitchen, ready to be dunked in hot chocolate, mulled wine or even sherry!

Lebkuchen biscotti

(makes up to 24)

Ingredients

250g plain flour

1/2tsp baking powder

250g caster sugar

3 medium eggs, beaten

1tsp each ground cinnamon and ground ginger

1/4tsp each ground cloves, allspice, nutmeg and cardamom

3 pieces stem ginger, chopped finely

Flour for dusting

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 150C and line a couple of baking sheets.

Combine all the dry ingredients with the stem ginger. Make a well in the centre and pour in the eggs, slowly combining them into the dry mix with a wooden spoon.

Once you have a dough, cover and chill for 20 minutes.

Flour a surface and cut the mix in two.

Take one piece and roll out into a sausage shape of about 4cm in diameter. Place on a tray and repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and once cool enough to handle, cut slices diagonally, about 2cm thick. Return to your trays and bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes until firm.

Cool and store.