This recipe is said to have come from an Irish cook who worked at Skibo Castle. I have adapted the recipe from the original, changing the size of the pan and adding some finely chopped crystallized ginger to bump up the finer flavor. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8" square pan with foil and lightly butter the foil. For the shortbread base: 1 1/4 cups flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 tablespoon very finely chopped crystallized ginger 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes For the topping: 3 ounces unsalted butter 1 tablespoon Lyle's Golden Syrup (substitute light corn syrup) 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
SKIBO CASTLE
Make the base: Sift together dry ingredients and blend in butter with your fingertips until the mixture just comes together. Press evenly on bottom of pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned. As soon as you take the shortbread out of the oven, make the topping. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and whisk in remaining ingredients until smooth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 seconds. Pour over base, tilting pan to cover evenly. Cool and cut into small squares. WATCH THE VIDEO:
The first thing I learned to bake was Scottish shortbread - not surprising since I grew up in Scotland! My mother's recipe was 1 lb. flour, 1/2 lb. butter, 1/4 lb. sugar. We made it entirely by hand, having no mixers or food processors in those days.
Because it seemed that the shortbread was different in every household, it was said that it was the temperature of the baker's hands that caused the difference. It more likely had to do with the fact that people experimented!
I've been adding lots of things to my basic recipe - ground nuts, orange zest, espresso powder, so when I discovered coconut flour at our remodeled supermarket it immediately said "Shortbread" to me. Some toasted coconut would add more flavor and texture, and a little chocolate couldn't hurt!
And that is the genesis of this recipe. Enjoy! 1/2 lb. butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup flaked coconut, lightly toasted 2 cups all-purpose flour 2/3 cup coconut flour View the video:
I recently had to produce a LOT of cookies for a family event - about 700 or so. I decided that everyone loves shortbread and so I would simply make different types. I used my basic recipe (which follows) and simply added flavorings and fillings.
Shortbread
½ lb. butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup rice flour
Preheat oven to 325°
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper
Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar until light. Gradually add flour, beating until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto a counter and knead with your hands until the dough comes together.
Divide dough in half and roll out between two sheets of waxed paper and cut into desired shapes. Transfer onto cookie sheets and bake for 17 to 20 minutes. Check the cookies as they bake - they are done when they just start to color slightly. You may sprinkle the tops lightly with sugar if you desire.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes and transfer to cooling racks to finish cooling.
Variations:
Add a half cup of any of the following to the dough after all the flours have been added:
Finely chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts)
The finely grated zest of an orange
Mini chocolate chips
Currants
Two tablespoons of finely grated crystallized ginger
I also did one batch with the seeds from a vanilla bean.
Fillings:
I used Nutella to fill the hazelnut cookies
Ganache for the orange
I sandwiched plain cookies with raspberry jam - you may want to boil the jam for a little to make it thicker
The ginger cookies I filled with apricot jam.
As you can see, the combinations are endless - I think a toasted coconut, finely chopped would be good with either raspberry or apricot jam; you could used pecans or walnuts in place of the hazelnuts; I think substituting a ½ cup of almond flour in place of plain flour would be good and on and on.
I recently acquired a copy of Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery - a
magnificent tome worthy of any cocktail table!
My mouth was watering as
I flipped through it - mentally making notes of recipes I can't wait to
try.
Then I came upon his recipe for shortbread. He stops short of
calling it Scottish, but does refer to it as traditional. While I would
never have the temerity to match my skills to his, I do take great
exception to the inclusion of vanilla - in any form - in shortbread.
I
have tasted this wonderful treat many times in many homes in Scotland
and none of them contained vanilla. To my taste, this ruins the sublime
flavor of butter, sugar and flour. My own recipe, which you can find
in this blog, contains butter, sugar, plain flour and rice flour. The
only other variations I have encountered replace the rice flour with
cornstarch or very fine semolina.
Shortbread aside, this is a book any home baker will love - some of the
recipes are more for drooling over than actually baking and some of the
equipment is a bit esoteric to say the least. Nevertheless, it is a
fabulous book well worth owning.
As a Scot, shortbread was the first thing I learned to bake. Growing up during the war in Scotland, sugar, butter (and everything else!) was severely rationed and families saved and saved to be able to bake a few treats for Christmas.
Shortbread was always at the top of the list. I have to tell you about one year when the shortbread was a disaster. In those days we didn't have supermarkets where everything was prepackaged as it is today. You went to the store and the grocer weighed out what you wanted, be it sugar, salt, flour, split peas, tea, etc.
Everything came in identical blue bags, neatly folded at the top but, of course, there were no labels. Well, one year my grandmother made the shortbread but when we tasted it.....she had mistaken the salt for the sugar!
As with many ethnic recipes, you will find that every family has its own variation. With shortbread, some families use cornstarch with the flour, others use fine semolina. I have changed our family recipe a little over the years to include rice flour* as I find it adds a delicious "shortness". I hope you will enjoy it.
Preheat oven to 325°
½ lb. unsalted butter at room temperature ¼ cup sugar 2¼ cups flour ¾ cup rice flour
Using a food process or mixer, cream the butter and sugar well. Add the flour and process or mix until a dough forms.
Knead by hand to form a ball. Divide in thirds and pat into three 7inch tart pans. Crimp the edges as demonstrated and prick with a fork. Bake at for 20 to 25 minutes or just until shortbread starts to color. Remove from oven, sprinkle lightly with sugar and cut into wedges.
As a Scot, shortbread was the first thing I learned to bake. Growing up during the war in Scotland, sugar, butter (and everything else!) was severely rationed and families saved and saved to be able to bake a few treats for Christmas. Shortbread was always at the top of the list. I have to tell you about one year when the shortbread was a disaster. In those days we didn't have supermarkets where everything was prepackaged as it is today. You went to the store and the grocer weighed out what you wanted, be it sugar, salt, flour, split peas, tea, etc.
Mother-Ruth (TOP)-Me-Gran
Everything came in identical blue bags, neatly folded at the top but, of course, there were no labels. Well, one year my grandmother made the shortbread but when we tasted it.....she had mistaken the salt for the sugar!
As with many ethnic recipes, you will find that every family has its own variation. With shortbread, some families use cornstarch with the flour, others use fine cornflour. I have changed our family recipe a little over the years to include rice flour as I find it adds a delicious "shortness". I hope you will enjoy it.
Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons finely grated orange peel 1/2 lb. butter (two sticks) pinch salt 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup rice flour 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Combine sugar and orange peel in food processor and pulse several times to blend. Add salt and pulse. Add butter and process until creamy and light.
Add plain flour and process until combined.
Add rice flour and process until a ball forms. There will probably be some dough that is still loose.
Turn out onto a clean surface and knead with your hands until dough forms a smooth ball. Divide dough in two and form each half into a roll about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on waxed paper and use a cookie sheet to help "tighten" the roll.
Refrigerate until firm - 1 - 2 hours. I save the tubes from paper towels, waxed paper, etc. and place the rolls in there to chill since it keeps them round.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line two or three cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Slice the cookies a generous 1/4 inch thick and place on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 20 minutes or until just beginning to take on some color.
Cool on the sheets for a minute or two then place on cooling racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, melt the chopped chocolate and when the cookies are cooled, dip them half way in the chocolate and place on waxed paper to set.
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