Keep it Simple Shortbread

There are some deceptively simple recipes out there that yield amazing results and one of the simplest is shortbread. There are only four ingredients involved and the end result, if a little care is employed, can win over even the harshest critic.

Essentially shortbread is a pastry but made in such a way that it robust enough to stand on its own. With this in mind I would recommend that you treat it with care. Make sure, for example, that you don't overwork the flour - overworking will help to release gluten from the flour which will inhibit the crumbliness of the end product. I would also advise that you make the dough in a cold kitchen and only turn the oven on when the cut shortbreads are resting in the fridge. Cold hands can be helpful so, if like me  you have warm hands, hold them under a running cold tap for as long as you can stand it.

Makes about 16 Shortbreads>


Ingredients

• 125g Salted Butter (softened by leaving out of the fridge for an hour or popping in the microwave for 10 seconds)
• 55g Caster Sugar
• 180g Plain Flour
• Icing sugar for dusting

To make:

1. Weigh the sugar into a large mixing bowl and cut the butter into pieces - these don't need to be regular cubes just cut in lumps until all the butter is added.
2. Using the same knife "cut in" the butter. This simply means run the knife through the butter to incorporate the sugar - the mixture has been properly cut in if there is no sugar laying at the bottom of the bowl
3. Using a wooden spoon beat the butter and sugar together until it is in a smooth and workable paste
4. Add the flour and stir (carefully) until it is fully incorporated into the butter/sugar mix and you have a breadcrumb-like texture. Use your hands to improve the breadcrumbs but don't overwork - a few seconds should do it.
5. *fun part* Squish the mix into a single ball - it should be crumbly but cohesive and only slightly sticky
6. Allow to rest in the fridge for a few minutes - this will make it easier to handle
7. Roll out on greaseproof paper (using a floured rolling pin) to a thickness of about 1cm and start cutting out fingers of the shortbread - longish, thickish and deepish will help to maintain its structure in the oven. I find it helps to use a sharp knife to cut out the largest rectangle of dough possible from what you have rolled out.
8. Once you have cut out the fingers, recombine the leftover dough and repeat step 7 until all the dough is used up. If the dough gets too floppy at any point stick it back in the fridge for a few minutes.
9. Arrange the shortbread fingers on a single sheet and leave it to chill in the fridge for 20 minutes - perfect time to turn on your oven to 180C (gas mark 4/5)
10. Bake for 15ish minutes or until very lightly golden
11. Dust lightly with icing sugar while still hot and leave to cool on a wire rack - It's tempting to scoff them as soon as they are cool enough to touch but leaving them to cool fully will significantly improve the texture.

And that's it. Simple but delicious.

Bake on bakers!

Name-check Hot Cross Buns

Yesterday I was in my new home-from-home Stratford-upon-Avon - birthplace of those to masters of their craft Shakespeare and The Real Tea Cafe. If you have never been I urge you to go, the Shakespeare is very well done (I managed to catch an impromptu rendition of Hamlet's Soliloquy/Get thee to a nunnery scene just by sitting around for a while) and The Real Tea Cafe is an absolute gem of a tea house (they do good coffee as well if you like that sort of thing).

Whilst I was in the cafe I spoke to the founder Anthony Kinch and recommended the use of his "More Tea Vicar" blend to soak the fruit for your Hot Cross Buns, it imparts all the subtle flavours of the spicy tea and, in my opinion, negates the need to use cinnamon. Of course I'm not saying you shouldn't use cinnamon if you like it but leaving it out gives the buns a breadier, yeastier flavour whilst remaining fruity and true to its traditional roots.

The following recipe is adapted from one that appeared in the Metro provided by Tom from Loaf. He's a great guy and a brilliant baker and local to me so I thought it would be well worth a shot.

Before you start this recipe do yourself a favour and get hold of a dough scraper, a cheap plastic one is my preference because they have less chance of damaging work surfaces and, you know, slicing off extremities. The one I use was from amazon and cost me just over a quid. Dough scrapers are among the most useful and versatile of kitchen utensils and will, if you'll pardon the pun, get you out of many a scrape.

Makes 12 buns:

Ingredients:

540g Strong White Flour
330ml Milk (use your preference - I use 1% but full fat is fine - avoid skimmed if possible)
160g currants or an equal split of currants/sultanas
1 tsp Dried Active Yeast - not fast action or any other "treated" yeast
3 Tsps "More Tea Vicar" tea from The Real Tea Cafe (they will deliver)
1 large egg
50g cool melted butter
70g Caster Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon (optional - see above)

For the Crosses:

50g Plain Flour

75ml Water

For the Glaze:

75g Caster Sugar

50ml Water

1. Bring the milk to the boil, remove from heat and add the tea. Once this is cool sieve into a large mixing bowl to remove the tea leaves.
2. Soak the currants/sultanas in the milky tea for at least 1 hour to plump them up
3. Once plumped add in half the flour and all the yeast and stir into a thick paste (known as a sponge) - cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 8 hours* - I would recommend that you do this over night.
4. Remove the sponge from the fridge, mix the sugar, cinnamon (if used), egg, butter and salt together. Add this to the sponge and work in the remaining flour until you have a rough dough - if the dough is too stiff add a few drops of milk at a time until just workable.
5. Tip out on to an unfloured surface and knead the dough for about 30 seconds with the heel of your palm before leaving it to rest for 15 minutes - you should repeat this process twice more, cover and leave the dough to rest in a warm place for two hours or until doubled in size.
6. Divide the risen dough into 12 equal pieces, roll them into tight balls and place them on grease proof paper on a baking sheet. Cover them again and let them rest for another hour in a warm place. Whilst they are resting pre-heat the oven to 180C (gas mark 4/5)
7. You now have time to prepare the final embellishments: Mix the flour and water into a smooth paste - this will need to be piped onto the buns before they are baked. If you have a piping bag I would recommend that you still use a freezer bag with the corner snipped off. If you want to use a piping nozzle then go ahead but this does not need to be precise.
8. Pipe the crosses onto the rested buns and bake for around 20 minutes until golden brown (the crosses should remain white)
9. Whilst the buns are baking stir the water and caster sugar together and heat until boiling point. Make sure all of the sugar is dissolved before leaving the mixture to cool.
10. Take the buns out of the oven and coat with the cooled syrup - leave to cool on a wire rack or serve straight away.

*This helps to retard the prooving and intensifies the yeasty flavour of the buns.

Bake on bakers!

The Modern Curse

There was a time, not so long ago, when people did things and only they and the people who were there at the time knew about it. These days the minute you do something you have to tell everybody in the bloody world straight away. Having recently splurged the contents of my oven all over my various timelines I've been asked, on occasion, to share the recipes so, looks like I've got myself a cookery blog:

Immediacy is curse, sometimes delayed gratification is the best kind of gratification.

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