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Wood-fired cooking is not usually recommended for biscuits and cakes, delicate preparations that require constant temperature control.

However, in a J.Corradi oven you can also bake excellent cakes and biscuits. First of all, the refractory materials it is built with are excellent and maintain a constant temperature without sudden chances. Secondly, with the thermometer you can check the temperature and easily see when it's the right time to put in the food.

Here is a recipe I prepared on a J.Corradi range cooker at Heart&Home in London. These are biscuits without butter, which makes them particularly light and can be stored for a long time in a closed container.

Chocolate & Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients

Plain flour: 90 gr 

Baking powder: 1 tsp 

Sugar: 55 gr 

Pistachios: 35 gr 

Dark chocolate chips: 25 gr 

Egg: 1 free-range egg yolk

Vanilla paste: ½ tsp 

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.

2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix well to form a dough.

3. Lightly knead the dough on a floured work surface until smooth then shape into a log and place on a backing tray lined with parchment.

4. Bake for 25 minutes, allow to cool, then cut into slices about 1,5 cm thick. Place slices onto the backing tray and back again for 5-10 minutes.

5. Let the biscotti cool and then serve. 

Chef Hugh Mc Givern

In his 30 years of experience as an Executive Chef, Hugh McGivern reached the four corners of the world. Originally from Glasgow, he served his apprenticeship in the army and then continued as Food Manager for the Carnival Cruise Lines, constantly travelling and adding international flavours and ingredients to his cuisine. From Michelin restaurants in London to the personal chef to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, he also cooked for Barack Obama and most of the European Royal Families. Heavily involved in nutrition and rules for preparing health food, he has developed programs for people with dementia in collaboration with 3 English Universities.

The cooker that was tested by Chef Hugh McGivern is the J.Corradi model Country 180 LGE. It is a combined range cooker that works with wood logs/gas/electricity, with firebox, wood-burning oven, multifunction electric oven, cast iron cooking grate, stainless steel customizable hobs. This cooker is available in the "thermo" version also, in order to have hot water for radiators or underfloor heating.