Sunday was Burns Night and it is on this night that Scots celebrate the poet Robert Burns. The original intention was to make Cranachan, but instead swapped the traditional oats for another Scottish staple, shortbread. Okay I don't have a Scottish bone in my body. I'm half English and half Welsh so this was really an excuse to eat raspberries out of season. Not something I do very often as no raspberries beat the ones from the PYO farm a few miles down the road. To go with the raspberries and shortbread I whipped together some cream, whisky & honey.
The shortbread came from a vintage cookbook Hubby & I were given for Christmas. I love looking at vintage cookbooks and seeing how food trends have changed or not changed in some instances. Amongst my cookbook collection I also own a 1920's book by Good Housekeeping that instructs me how to be a lady of leisure, my role as a wife and how to organise my servants. Some of the advice in it certainly makes me chortle!
Now I usually post my recipes in grams, but in true 1950's style, and exactly how it is written in my cookbook I'm going to write it in ounces. Incidentally if your ever looking for the best place to do cookery conversions online, consult Delia.
Scotch Shortbread
From Encyclopedia of World Cookery - Elizabeth Campbell
6oz plain flour
4 oz butter
2 oz caster sugar
pinch of salt
1) Preheat oven to 140oc. Mix flour and salt together then rub in butter followed by sugar.
2) Knead into a dough. Resist temptation to add liquid. Keep kneading the dough and it will eventually come together. Form into a round cake prick with a fork and place on a lightly greased baking tray.
3) Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool, dredge with caster sugar then slice.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Scotch Shortbread
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How funny, we made Shortbread too, a recipe passed down in the family, very much the same as yours but this time we gave it a few little twists, I'm going to post it later in the week after I've taken pictures - we made an awful lot... must stop before I need to buy new jeans.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine being a lady of leisure...
Excellent! I'm not Scottish either, not by a long shot, and I still celebrated. I'm an English Literature student so I feel justified in doing so....that and I really love mashed sweed and the only was I could get my boyfriend to eat it was to moan about the importance of Burns night :D
ReplyDeleteKatie xox
I love that you have the print button! It is for this very recipe! YES!
ReplyDeleteAmanda - I look forward to reading your shortbread recipe.
ReplyDeleteKatie - I think sometimes we have to enforce these foodie events on our other-halfs ;)
J-Danger - I only worked out how to put the print button on a few weeks ago. I'm glad you find it useful.
I love shortbread and haven't made it for ages. Yours looks fantastic with the raspberries and whisky cream - yum!
ReplyDeleteThat cream on top looks divine! Love shortbread - thanks for the recipe. I really ought to stop buying it and just make it myself!
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious! I'd like to invite you to submit this or some other dessert to my Monthly Sweet Thursday event! You can read about it on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the super dense texture you've got on your shortcake there - looks perfect. Just how it should be.
ReplyDeleteAntonia - Even though I went mad with a bit of cream it was still yum!
ReplyDeleteSu-Lin - I have to admit I used to buy it more than I buy it, but now I've remebered how easy it is to make I'm going to start making it again.
Jerri - Thank you for the invite.
aforkful - it was dense but still buttery & crumbly.