Michael’s Mandel Bread, a once-baked chocolate chip treat, was perfected in Miami
Mandelbrot, typically a hard, crusty biscuit, is a close relative of biscotti. Zwieback (twice-baked) rusks from Germany and elsewhere in Europe are also part of the family, with the double-baking a way to extend its shelf life. Michael Reiss, a general contractor in Miami, preferred his family’s recipe for mandelbrot, which is baked only once, so it remains soft and cookielike. He thought his family variation might have come about because his father was a dentist and advised against hard foods. Mr. Reiss would give it to friends and sell it in local shops. But recently, his daughter Kimberly Pertnoy thought the tender, pale yellow slices studded with chocolate chips deserved a wider audience. The mandelbrot is now sold online.
Michael’s Mandel Bread, $25 and up, michaelsmandelbread.com.
By for www.nytimes.com
Florence Fabricant is a food and wine writer. She writes the weekly Front Burner and Off the Menu columns, as well as the Pairings column, which appears alongside the monthly wine reviews. She has also written 12 cookbooks.
