Delightful, darling!

Buttery, crumbly, rich, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread.  This is it. 

This week, I squeezed my baking fix into 20 minutes after pulling a few easily accessible ingredients from my fridge and pantry. This recipe produces quite a 'grown-up' custard shortbread that is buttery and gorgeous but not sickly sweet. The drizzle of rich dark chocolate across the top perfectly compliments the creamy biscuit which could only be improved with an accompanying cappucino...delightful, darlings!

Chocolate-Drizzled Custard Shortbreads

250g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups plain flour, sifted

1/2 cup custard powder, sifted

dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line two baking trays with grease-proof paper.  Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. When colour lightens, mix in flour and custard powder.  Roll teaspoon sized amounts of the mixture into balls and place on the trays.  Press each ball down a little before putting in the oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  When cool, drizzle melted chocolate across the top of the biscuits.

F. x

Lemon is lovely.

I don't make these lovely lemon shortbreads all the time, and let me tell you why....because I would EAT THEM ALL!  I have found in these darlings, the perfect shortbread: not so crumbly that you choke on the dust that hits the back of your throat, and not so buttery that you find yourself needing a chisel to get it off the roof of your mouth.  Even more of a testament to how good these are is the statement made by my wonderful friend, Tara, when she received these in her Christmas goody box: "I don't like shortbread.  I gave them to Leah (her sister) and she made me try one.  They are so good!"
Ok, well I've paraphrased but I'm sure Tara will back me up when I say, that was the general gist of it.  In short, even if you don't think you like shortbread, make these!!!

I believe that this recipe was originally from a Women's Weekly cookbook (probably the one of the many I have stolen from my mother, but possession is nine-tenths of the law, no?).  I have done a little tweaking over the years to get this just right so I cannot attest to how closely this resembles the original recipe.  Nevertheless, this shortbread is insanely wonderful and not even remotely like the old-fashioned fork-pricked triangles seen in old tartan-covered Christmas books of old.  The batter is amazingly soft and velvety, and if you can manage not to eat it all before you get it into the oven, the biscuits are even more so.

Lemon Shortbread

250g unsalted butter, room temperature

1-2 tsp finely grated lemon rind (to taste, really)

55g icing sugar

225g plain flour

75g cornflour

Preheat oven to around 160 degrees and top some baking trays with baking paper.

Beat the butter, sugar and lemon rind with an electric mixer until it changes to a light straw colour.  Next, sift your flours in two batches, mixing to combine in between.  When mixture has come together, place into a piping bag with an open star tip.  Pipe onto the baking tray in whatever manner takes your fancy.  I have done pretty 'bars' but you can also do little rosettes which are quite nice.  Bake for around 15 minutes.  Don't expect the shortbread to brown.  If it does, then they will be overdone.  Once baked, transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Prepare to fall in love.

F. x

More Pictures than Prose

All week, I have been busily preparing my darling Christmas Care Packages and just had to give you a sneaky peek.  Be prepared for your mouth to start watering as you take in the glorious stacks of buttery, lemon shortbread (don't you just love the way it all gets stuck on the roof of your mouth?) and my people-pleasing chocolate caramel slice.  Both are personal favourites of mine and have people asking for them every year.

 

Enjoy!

F. x