Caroles Shortbread Step by Step

Originally published in December 2008 I'm reposting this recipe of Mum's (well technically it was Granny Battens) because a couple of people have asked for it.

It was always a favourite with friends & family, with many people requesting it if Mum offered to make them something for an occasion or event of some sort, often with the comment that no one else's shortbread had that same melt in the mouth texture or tasted as good.
The trick, according to Mum was truly in the texture of the dough & letting the bottom of the shortbread develop a light golden colour when cooking.

One of the things I miss is hearing Mum say "I have to make my Christmas shortbread this weekend"...& then reel off a list of all the people she was making some for.lol!

Let the baking begin!
Mum's 'basic' Shortbread recipe:

• 1/2 lb butter
• 2 1/2 cups standard flour
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 cup cornflour

When I saw Mum squinting at the scales I suggested that she actually wear her glasses.... then quickly took a photo of her when everything was mixing up. She has her shortbread recipe down to an art - & is more concerned with the correct texture than the exact amounts of anything.

Cream the softened butter, & icing sugar until light & fluffy, almost white. (Pour gin & tonic each whilst these are creaming away merrily.)

Gradually add the flour & cornflour, sifted together . Now when Mum says gradually - she means gradually & letting it mix in well between each addition (this gives you time to throw together some crackers & camembert to have with the G&T).

You may or may not use all of the flour, the important thing is to stop adding when you have a soft dough

that has just reached the stage where it no longer sticks to your mixer or fingers, if you pick up a bit & pinch it between them.



Have a sip of your G&T, & empty the dough onto a lightly floured surface & form into a log.

                               

Rolling, rolling, rolling until you have a whopper

Slice, not too thinly (Mum makes each slice about 10mm thick), & squeeze the log back into shape between each slice.
Place on a baking tray that is carefully being guarded by the G&T.

Place in an oven that has been preheated to 150 celsius - 300 fahrenheit for 30 minutes, checking from 20 minutes onwards - if the bottom is lightly golden, it's done! If the bottom is still pale it just doesn't taste the same.

Ahh the part I was waiting for, licking the mixer - a 40 something year old daughter who really only wanted to relive her childhood & see if licking the mixer was the best part of the whole process! Perhaps it's the second best thing - these days it seems that warm shortbread fresh out of the oven is the best part.

** This was my Grandmother's recipe & traditionally it was rolled flat, cut into squares, pinched at the corners & pricked a couple of times with the fork before being baked. I clearly recall 40 odd years ago watching Mum make it that way & it all sticking to the bench top & tearing when she went to put the spatula under it to remove it. With an exclamation of 'bother - there has got to be an easier way than this' she scooped up the lot rolled it into the log & started slicing , the method she uses today.

A link to the original post is below:
http://dabatt.blogspot.com.au/2008/12/christmas-carole-cooking.html

Undomestic Godess

That's me.
I'd rather mow the lawns than vacuum the house or get pricked pruning roses than dusting the furniture, I rather undergo torture than take a trip to the supermarket....& I'd far rather melt glass than cook!

It's not that I don't like to cook, I just don't enjoy it as some people do. It's not that I dont like food either, believe me I do, I simply get more of a buzz using my hands & my time to create a slightly more lasting eye candy over something that will disappear minutes after everyone sits at the table. I always have & I always will.

I'm cool with that though as it give certain family members something to tease me about every time there is a gathering of the extended family.

I've always had rather a warped theory on some things. I like to see something 'lasting' for my money & time. Yet there was a time when I'd far rather spend my money at a plant nursery than at a clothes store.

These days I'd rather spend money anywhere other than at a supermarket though.

The strange thing is that I haven't always felt this ambivalent towards supermarket shopping & cooking. I suspect it has happened over time & to some extent has been influenced by the fussiness & bland tastes of those that I have resided with in the past.
I was fortunate enough to be brought up by parents who had diverse tastes in food, & a mother who was way ahead of her time in testing out exotic dishes & recipes in an era where most families here were busy living on the bland meat & three vege fare.

I grew up developing a taste for the exotic which, in turn, developed into a love of chilli's so hot they would leave me eye's streaming & almost speechless & wasabi intense enough to cause a nasal orgasm.....

I like my food to be a taste sensation.

Suffice to say that if I could afford to have a pantry full of fresh spices & such on hand so that I could cook whatever I felt like on any given day, without having to make a trip to the supermarket or some speciality store or other, I'd no doubt enjoy cooking.

The again sometimes I surprise myself. Last Friday a trip to the fresh vege stall up the road yielded not only the 3kg's of banana's I purchased for general consumption, but almost as much again of slightly over ripe banana's given to me by the people who run the stall.

Some banana recycling was in order! The first night I made some caramel banana's for dessert then, on Sunday, I had a banana bake-a-thon.

Wonders will never cease! I call this little lot 'Banana by products'
There's a banana cake, banana bread, a banana & walnut loaf & choco banana muffins.
Because I dont particularly like baking done with banana's personally I splurged & made myself some apple cinnamon & walnut muffins.
This lot was supposed to last to do some of the school lunches this week. I think there is enough cake left for the lunches tomorrow & a few pieces of one of the loaves.

Humph - I should have made beads instead!