Every year Joan Jacobs celebrates the holidays with a party for her girlfriends. It’s usually a cookie exchange. This year was different. She invited us all to visit her chocolate fountain. Each guest was invited to bring fruit, cookies or pretzels or anything that could be dipped in chocolate (are there things that cannot be dipped in chocolate?). We also celebrated the engagement of her son, Ted, to beautiful Ashley (in the photo). Celebrate your friendships with chocolate!

Almond Biscotti with Liqueur d’Orange

2 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon liqueur d’Orange
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 1/2 cups whole almonds

Preheat oven to 350°. Lay almonds on large baking sheet in single layer. Toast almonds for 10 minutes and cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 300°.
Line a very large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Combine sugar, flour, baking soda and salt in large bowl of electric mixer.
Add eggs one at a time, then add butter, almond extract, liqueur and zest until just combined. Stir in almonds. (I used my hands to kneed the almonds into the dough).

Transfer to a well-floured surface and shape the dough into six loaves (six inches long by 2 inches wide).
Place loaves on baking sheet a few inches apart as they will spread when baking. Bake for 50 minutes until light golden. Cool slightly.

On a cutting board, with a serrated knife, slice logs on the
diagonal into 1/2 inch wide biscotti. Return slices to cookie sheet and back for 25 minutes more. Cool.

You can now visit a chocolate fountain, if desired.

Biscotti keep well at room temperature stored in an airtight container.