It's best to use gel food color or the kind in the little tubs ~ NOT the liquid ones (which used to be all you could get). They'll add too much moisture to the dough. In fact, the purple one should probably have a little more flour since the rum extract added liquid and it was much softer than the other 2 colors (which is why I started the braid with purple in the middle).
You'll start out with good intentions of keeping those logs even and straight, but as you get to braiding, they'll get thick & thin or even break (as you can see from the photo I posted). Don't worry about that! Just work with your hands to patch it all up. When you flatten the logs down and even them up, you won't even notice the "uh ohs" after they're baked! And, I'll bet your friends and family haven't seen any others like this, so you'll be good no matter what!
MARDI GRAS Lime Rum Daiquiri BISCOTTI
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened ………………. 1 cup sugar
2 eggs ……………………………………………….. 1 TB cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract …………………………………2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder……………………………1/2 tsp. rum extract
1/2 tsp. lime extract and/or 1 TB lime jello powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Purple, green and yellow food coloring or edible gold glitter
***
Preheat oven to 350. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray).
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and extract; mix well. Stir in flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Mix well. Take the dough out and divide into 3 parts. To the first part, just add about 2 TB edible gold glitter (or yellow food color, if you don't have the gold). To the next part, add about 1 TB lime jello powder (or lime extract, if you'd rather) and green food coloring. Clean paddle. To the last part, add the rum extract and purple food coloring.
Make 2 thin ropes of each color. You’ll use 1 rope of each color (about 12” long) next to each other, and braid it. Flatten and put on the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the doughs. Bake about 20 minutes & remove.
Lower oven to 325. Let the biscotti cool about 5 minutes. Slice into 1-1/2” slices, and flip onto their sides. Return to oven and bake another 9-10 minutes. Lightly brush with glaze while still warm, so it’s translucent. Can use sprinkles or edible glitter.
GLAZE: about 4 TB clear corn syrup whisked with 2 TB real rum (and maybe 1 tsp. lime juice, if you have it). Brush it on. If you want, you could sprinkle with clear or colored Sparkling Sugar. I did a quick sprinkle of edible Gold Glitter
Makes about 50 slices