SC - shortbread

[Debra Hense]

Allison wrote on Saturday, September 20th:
>Ooooh!!! At the Interkingdom Cooks event in Ohio this past July, a lady
>arrived from Idaho, no less, with over 2 dozen varieties of shortbread. 
>All delicious, but some better and some best of all.  M. Kateryn de
>Develyn had every variety, changing flours and sweetners. Tthey are so
>simple to make, as flour, sweetner and fat (butter, originally, I
>believe) that they must be quite old.  As soon as you have the idea of
>making a baked goodie, this is the first and most basic thing you might
>try.  I hope she's on the list, she can tell you all about the ones she
>made and their history.

I'm on the list, but (smiling broadly -cuz I've always heard of this happening
to other people and its the first time its happened to me) I'm from Iowa not
Idaho.  Idaho is where they grow potatoes, Iowa is where they grow corn and
raise pigs.

I  don't have a period recipe for shortbread. I just use the 4-2-1 method, but I use
pie tins, and this quantity makes 4 tins worth. I also only bake it for 30 minutes.

I use different flours, different fats, and different sweetners when making the 
shortbread because I use it to stress the importance of knowing your ingredients, 
what it does in terms of taste, texture, and appearance, before you begin 
substituting.

And I always learn something new when I teach that class - maybe because I am
always stumbling across something new to try and share with everyone.  This time
I used filbert flour - I learned that when working with nut flour - you need to cut way
way back on the shortening, as the flour when it cooks will supply its own. I also 
learned that garbanzo bean flour (no gluten - good for cecilac(sp?) disease) holds 
together extremely well without a lot of extra work. Would be good as a substitute
for wheat based flours.

And, if it lasts that long - shortbread almost always tastes even better the next 
day after its been made.

Kateryn de Develyn
debh at microware.com
Barony of Coeur d'Ennui (Des Moines, Iowa)
Kingdom of Calontir


============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================