[Sca-cooks] Period Flour Query and shortbread

[Sue Clemenger]

I've always wondered about that...well, at least since I saw my first
shortbread recipe that included rice flour, and thought WTF?
What effect would reducing the gluten have on the shortbread? Make it more
tender or something? When I make it, I just use regular unbleached flour,
sugar, and unsalted butter...yumm....
--Maire, actually thinking of making some this weekend so that she can get
the butter out of the house before Lent starts in a couple of weeks....

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 4:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Period Flour Query and shortbread


>
> I believe the addition of rice flour is a modern one (or more so than
> the earliest printed shortbread recipes, anyway), designed to reduce
> total gluten content: I think they may be simulating some of the
> finer and more expensive pastry flours.