Yep. That’s a pretentious, toe-curling title for a blog post, isn’t it? Well, I’ve just spent a couple of hours putting together a playlist of classical music for Mr. R&R on iTunes and so my head’s a bit full of requiems, nocturnes and masses (his taste running a bit to the sepulchral end of the musical mood spectrum). So, actually, you’re quite lucky it wasn’t Lamento per un biscotto burroso or similar, which might have really made you hurl. Anyhoo, back to the baking…
So many recipes for shortbread aren’t there? I plonked for Ottolenghi’s one with pistachio and cardamon, in the original Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, by dint of it having a pretty picture. But then, obviously, I got distracted by Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall’s versions in the RRiver Cottage Every Day book and started fiddling with lemon zest and caraway, and then I remembered Mum’s lavender flowers in the cupboard and ended up with four flavours rather than one. A degustatory medley, if you will, of shortbread (barf).
In the end, though, I think the pistachio flavour was the most successful. Lemon was a close second. The lavender and caraway versions were always going to be a bit more challenging and, as much as I’m a fan of both flavours per se, I’m not sure they completely work in such a delicate biscuit. (I’m still searching for the perfect recreation of a lavender cream sponge eaten at – where else? – a National Trust tea room a couple of years ago, and for me rye breads are the ideal caraway vehicle.)
A note regarding cooking time: Ottolenghi’s recipe says 20 minutes at 150˚C, whereas other shortbread recipes use a higher temperature (Hugh’s 20 minutes at 180˚C for biscuits, Lorraine Pascale‘s 30 minutes at 170˚C for a tray, Baking With Passion: Exceptional Recipes for Real Breads, Cakes, and Pastries 20 minutes at 180˚C.) The result of this gentle bake is a biscuit essentially without any colour from heat, as you can see from the pictures, and one that is crisply crumbly on the outside and softly fluffy on the inside. It’s definitely not your dunkable supermarket shortbread finger – these will turn to sludge faster than a one-dunk Rich Tea (of current Prince William notoriety). In fact, I’m not sure they’re suited to tea drinking at all, certainly not a mug of builder’s or full-flavoured Rooibos in any case. Perhaps arranged on a plate alongside a delicate china cup of Earl Grey? Or as an after-dinner petit fours with espresso?
Shortbread with lavender, caraway, lemon or pistachio and cardamon
Makes about 24 biscuits. Adapted from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.
- 200g unsalted butter, softened
- 25g ground rice
- 240 plain (AP) flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 35g icing sugar
For the different flavours:
- Ground seeds of 4 cardamon pods and 10g pistachios (unsalted and shelled)
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 tsp dried (culinary) lavender flowers
- Zest of 1/2 a small lemon
Use a beater to blend the softened butter, ground rice, salt, sugar and flour together. When it starts to form large rubble, divide the dough into four and do the final mix seperately to incorporate the different flavours – it’s done when it just starts to come together into a ball. So to one quarter of the dough add the teaspoon of lavender flowers, to the next the teaspoon of caraway seeds, then the lemon zest and finally the cardamon. Shape each quarter of the dough into a little squat log about 4cm in diameter and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for half an hour while the oven preheats to 150°C. In the meantime, line a couple of baking sheets with parchment and coarsely chop the pistachios.
When the dough has chilled, take the cardamom log out and roll it in the pistachios. Roll it back up in clingfilm and chill while baking two other flavours. With two other logs then, slice them to about 1/2cm discs and lay them on the first baking sheet. You can shape them a little back into rounds if the log got squished when sliced. Sprinkle with caster sugar and bake for 20 minutes. Then do the same with the other logs. Cool on wire racks and store in Tupperware.
2 Comments on "Variations on a shortbread theme"
These look fantastic! I adore shortbread and used to experiment with flavors (my favorite was a pistachio-cardamom variety!) I love the idea of adding some lavender and rolling the pistachios on the sides rather than scattered across the surfaces. Really lovely photos, glad to find your site!
Hey Siri – thank you! Likewise your site is really lovely – might sound strange but Norway is one of those places that we dream of being able to escape to during the long, hot, humid Bahamian summer…
Yes, rolling in the chopped pistachios works really well (also, because there will be two lucky recipients of the biscuits at each end of the log which you can cheekily nearly completely cover with pistachios).