[Sca-cooks] Shortbread was Two questions VERY Long

Sat Sep 12 13:37:41 PDT 2009

Please excuse the length.

Classic proportions for shortbread are 3, 2, 1 or 6, 4, 2.

Here are some modern recipes for versions with those ingredients
that His Grace didn't find:

 From The Independent "Food & Drink: A short story for Hogmanay"
The origins of the New Year's Eve festival of hogmanay are French  
rather than from north of the border, discovers Michael Bateman. But  
the traditional treat of the season, crumbly shortbread, could not be  
more Scottish

Michael Bateman
Sunday, 29 December 1996

Shortbread will be cheaper and, certainly, more satisfying to make at  
home. Here Catherine Brown shares with us her recipes for achieving  
shortbreads of three different textures; granular, crunchy and smooth.  
And for good measure less known, traditional recipes; Pitchaithly ban- 
nock, Yetholm bannock, and a marmalade-filled shortbread. The recipes  
are taken from her book A Year in a Scots Kitchen.

HOGMANAY FAVOURITES

SHORTBREAD

The texture of the shortbread is a matter of taste, adjusted by  
varying the coarseness of the flour, using ground rice for grittiness,  
and cornflour and icing sugar for a more melting texture.

For a `gritty' granulated texture:

125g/5oz plain flour

25g/1oz rice flour

100g/4oz butter

2oz/50g castor sugar

For a fine but crunchy texture:

100g/4oz plain flour

25g/1oz rice flour

25g/1oz cornflour

100g/4oz butter

25g/1oz castor sugar

25g/1oz icing sugar

For a smooth `melting' texture:

100g/4oz plain flour

50g/2oz cornflour

100g/4oz butter

50g/2oz icing sugar

Put the butter on to a work surface and knead in the sugar, then the  
flour until it becomes a reasonably firm ball of dough. (To make in a  
food processor pulse butter and sugar till creamy, add flour and pulse  
until smooth. Remove and knead, adding more flour if needed.)

Either press dough into a greased 270 by 175mm (1014 by 7in) Swiss- 
roll tin and prick with a fork, or use a special shortbread mould, or  
roll into a cylinder shape and coat in granulated sugar. Chill and  
slice into thin round biscuit shapes. Bake slowly at 170C/325F/Gas 3  
until an even golden brown.

PITCAITHLY BANNOCK

Add one tablespoon flaked almonds, caraway seeds and crystalised  
orange to the shortbread recipe. Roll out to a round shape about 2cm  
(34in) thick. Prick the top with a fork or skewer. Sprinkle with a  
further tablespoon of flaked almonds and press in lightly. Pince the  
edge with finger and thumb to decorate and bake for one to one and a  
half hours till a pale golden brown throughout.

YETHOLM BANNOCK

Add two tablespoons of finely chopped stem ginger to shortbread recipe  
and decorate on top with thin slices of stem ginger. Bake as for  
Pitcaithly bannock.

SHORTBREAD WITH MARMALADE

Roll the prepared shortbread mixture into golf ball shapes. Make a  
deep impression in the middle of each and fill with half a teaspoon of  
marmalade. Close up, reshape and put on a baking tin. Press down  
slightly and bake for 30 minutes. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.

--------------------

 From 1901 King Edward's cookery book by Florence A. George

Ayrshire Shortbread.
one quarter lb. flour. one quarter lb. rice flour. 2 oz. castor- 
sugar.  one quarter lb butter. 1 yolk of egg. 2 teaspoonfuls cream  
Pinch of salt.

(Makes 14 oz.)

Mix the flour, rice flour, sugar, and salt together, rub in the  
butter, add the egg and cream, knead well, roll out thinly, stamp into  
shapes, and bake in a slow oven. The baking-tin should only be  
slightly buttered.

---------
from 1936
Ayrshire Shortbread Recipe with Flour, Butter, Egg, Rice Flour, Sugar  
& Cream.
INGREDIENTS

8 oz (225g) Plain Flour
4 oz (100g) Butter
1 Egg Yolk
4 oz (100g) Rice Flour
4 oz (100g) Castor Sugar
2 tablespoonful Cream
METHOD

Sift the Flour and Rice Flour into a basin, and lightly rub in the  
Butter. Add the Sugar and mix the ingredients to a stiff paste with  
the beaten Egg Yolk and Cream. Roll out thinly, prick all over with a  
fork, and cut into rounds with a small cutter. Bake the cakes on a  
baking sheet lined with buttered paper for about 15 minutes until pale  
golden. Cool on a cake rake.
Based on the Ayrshire Shortbread recipe in:
Cookery Illustrated & Household Management
by Elizabeth Craig (Odhams Press 1936).

http://www.retrofoodrecipes.com/ayrshire_shortbread.html

-----------------

http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/food/ayrshire_shortbread.htm
has this version posted:

Ayrshire Shortbread - a delicious shortbread which has the added  
delight of cream. Very appropriate as Ayrshire is famous for its milk  
production.

Ayrshire Shortbread

Ingredients : 8 oz (225 g) flour; 1 tbsp rice flour; 4 oz (100 g)  
butter; 4 oz (100 g) caster sugar; yolk of egg; 2 tbsp cream

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F/ 180 deg C or gas mark 4

Sieve the flour and rice lour together into a bowl. Rub in the butter  
and add sugar. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolk and  
cream. Knead together lightly to make a fairly stiff dough. Divide  
into three pieces and roll into sausage-shapes about one-and-a half  
inch (4 cm) in diameter. Put into a cool place and leave for several  
hours or overnight. Cut into        rounds a quarter inch thick ( 1/2  
cm), place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

see also
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_lives4.htm

---------

Saffron in shortbread shows up in several cookbooks, especially those  
for tea treats.
On the web, it appears in several posted recipes including this one  
which is based
on a recipe from Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery.:
http://www.mangopowergirl.com/2008/04/spring-saffron-shortbread.html

------

There are a number of shortbread recipes today that call for spices:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Five-Spice-Shortbread-236615

Other variations:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Scarborough-Fair-Shortbread-232644 
  calls for 4 herbs.

Johnnae

On Sep 12, 2009, at 12:27 AM, David Friedman wrote:

> On the shortbread question.
> One problem in telling whether or not this would come out similar to  
> a modern shortbread is the lack of quantities (except for the egg  
> yolk). The same ingredients can produce very different results  
> depending on relative amounts.
> Googling around, the standard short bread seems to be, by volume,  
> about 4 parts flour to 2 parts butter to 1 part sugar. That wouldn't  
> be my first guess for  a recipe that lists the sugar along with the  
> spices. And I haven't come across any shortbread recipes that used  
> cream instead of butter. I would also be a little surprised to  
> encounter a modern shortbread flavored with cloves, mace and saffron.
> -- 
> David/Cariadoc
> www.daviddfriedman.com
> _______________________________________________