Lemon posset with fennel seed biscotti

Preheat oven to 170 degrees/gas 3.

First, make the posset. In a saucepan, bring the cream, sugar and fennel seeds to the boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for two minutes, making sure you’re generating large rolling bubbles. Then whisk in the lemon juice and set the mixture aside to cool.

When it’s cool, sieve out the fennel seeds and carefully skim off air bubbles that have risen to the top. Pour the mixture into some glasses and chill until set – this will take a few hours.

To make the biscotti, line a baking tray with parchment. Next, sieve the flour and baking powder together. Beat the sugar and butter till light and fluffy – about seven minutes. Gradually beat in the eggs. When this is done, stir in the flour, baking powder, the almonds and the fennel. On a cool, floured surface, shape the mixture into one loaf about 20cm long by 10cm wide. Bake for 20-25 minutes until pale golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit; at this stage it will be semi-chewy in texture. With a sharp knife, slice into two centimetre biscotti slices, return them to the tray and put back in the oven for a further five minutes until crisp. When cool, dust with some icing sugar.

dkemp@irishtimes.com