Tag: bake

How to make shortbread

Ingredients

115g butter at room temperature
50g golden caster sugar plus extra to dust
125g plain flour
50g ground rice

There is nothing nicer than a slice of buttery, crumbly shortbread to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee and it is simplicity itself and so quick to make. This is our classic recipe but there are many variations, some made with semolina, some with cornflour and others just plain flour. We’ve used a little ground rice in this recipe as it gives a nice crisp biscuit with just a little crunchy texture.

To make the best tasting shortbread use the finest butter you can afford as this is where the flavour comes from!

Scottish Shortbread is traditionally made in a round wooden mould, often decorated with thistles, or pressed into a fluted metal flan tin. And, when marked and broken into triangles are known as petticoat tails. To make shortbread fingers press the mixture into an 18 cm square tin and mark it into fingers so that it can be cut or broken into bars once baked. it is best to mark the shortbread with the back of a knife before baking then cut again as soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, then allow to cool so it will snap easily.

If you want to make the mixture in advance, roll the dough into a sausage shape, wrap in cling film and chill. It will keep in the fridge for several days. When ready to bake cut into thick slices, place on a baking tray and bake for about 25 mins until golden.

Step 1

Heat the oven to 170°C/150°C Fan/Gas Mark 3. Cut the butter into cubes. Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until well combined.

Step 2

Add the flour and ground rice and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together, it will be crumbly at first but keep beating and it will form a soft dough.

Step 3

Dust the work surface with a little flour then pat or roll the dough out to an 18-20 cm circle. Crimp the edge between your finger and thumbs, mark into eight triangles and prick all over with a fork.

Step 4

Place on a baking tray. Bake for 45 mins or until pale golden. Allow to cool on the tray for 10 mins then cool on a wire rack. Dust with caster sugar.

Shortbread will keep in a cake tin for up to 2 weeks.

Twists

Cherry shortbread
Add 75g finely chopped glace cherries to the mixture then shape and bake as above.

Lavender shortbread rounds
Add 2 tbsp lavender flowers (check they haven’t been sprayed with pesticides) to the mixture and bake as above or roll out a little thinner and cut into rounds with biscuit cutter and bake for about 15 mins until golden.

Choc chip shortbread squares
Mix 100g plain chocolate chips into the soft dough and bake in an 18cm square tin for 40-45 mins until golden. Cut into squares and drizzle with melted chocolate if liked.

Ginger shortbread triangles
Finely chop 3 pieces preserved ginger from a jar and mix into the soft dough. Roll out thinly and cut into squares, Mark each with the back of knife into 2 triangles and bake for about 20-25 mins or until golden. Cool and snap in half.

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Mini key lime and ginger pies

Goodtoknow TV

Free & easy recipe video: Watch new how-to recipe videos with goodtoknow and Woman’s Weekly see all videos >

This month, our baking blogger Anneliese Giggins has created deliciously tangy mini key lime pies. Made with a spicy ginger base, these tasty little puds are so easy to make and are perfect for all occasions

That’s goodtoknow

Anneliese says: ‘If you bake fairly regularly it is worth paying a little more for your bakeware. Cheap tins can bow in the oven, providing an uneven bake. Investing in a few stronger and heavier tins will make such a difference to your cakes and bakes and they can last you a lifetime.’

Ingredients

For the biscuit base:

75g unsalted butter
200g gingernut biscuits

For the topping:

397g condensed milk (you can use the light version, 405g tin – it doesn’t make any difference. I tried it with both)
284ml double cream
The juice from 5 limes and the finely grated zest from 1 lime.

Method

First of all place the muffin cases into your muffin tin.
Weigh the butter, then place into a small saucepan over a low heat to melt. While you wait for the butter to give in to the heat, weigh your biscuits then place into a sandwich or freezer bag. You can use a blender or food processor to produce fine crumbs, but I quite enjoy using a rolling pin to bash the living daylights out of the biscuits. Be warned, gingernuts are quite firm, so you may have a sore arm and a red face by the time you have finished! Once the butter has melted you can pour the biscuit crumbs into the saucepan and mix to combine. The mixture is now ready to be spooned as equally as possible into the base of each muffin case. Be sure to press the buttery biscuit mixture firmly into each case with the back of your spoon.
While you leave the biscuit bases to set you can get on with the simple filling. Pour the condensed milk and double cream straight into your mixing bowl. As you require the grated zest from one lime, add this before adding the juice. I have discovered that it is quite tricky to try to remove the zest once the lime has been cut in half and emptied of juice! Also, make sure it is grated very finely otherwise you will have big lumps of zest in your pies. Once all of the juice and zest have been added to the condensed milk and double cream, use a balloon whisk to combine it all together. The mixture will start off very runny. DO NOT PANIC!! Within a few seconds it will thicken up like magic!
Once your biscuit bases are set and firm, they are ready to receive the delicious lime topping. Dollop generous spoonfuls on top of each base until all the mixture has been used up. Smooth the surfaces with the back of your spoon, then place into your fridge for a minimum of two hours. I know waiting is torture but you can console yourself by licking out the bowl!
When the time has finally passed you can remove your pies from the tins and peel off the paper. The topping is meant be on the soft side but it should hold its shape once the paper has been removed. Your work is done and you can now reward yourself with one, or more likely two, mini key lime and ginger pies. I really hope you enjoy making and most importantly eating them!

Read Anneliese’s baking blog

By Anneliese Giggins

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Nutritional information

Guideline Daily Amount for 2,000 calories per day are: 70g fat, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar, 6g salt.

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Christmas pudding recipes

One of our favourite Christmas recipes has got to be a homemade Christmas pudding.

A hearty, flavoursome bake, Christmas puddings are traditionally made on Stir-up Sunday which falls on the last Sunday before December starts (the last before advent). In 2012, this is on 25th November but don’t worry if you don’t make it then, our selection of easy recipes has ideas you can make right up until the day itself.

Starting with our traditional Christmas pudding recipe, which comes with a handy step-by-step video recipe to ensure you get yours just right, our selection of the best recipes on goodtoknow features some delicious new flavour combinations as well a boozy version and a vegetarian alternative so you can suit your bake to any occasion or guest.

We’ve also got some great ideas for Christmas pudding alternatives if you’ve got any relatives that aren’t too keen on the rich taste. Our gingerbread pudding, from Christmas queen Delia Smith herself, and our Lincolnshire carrot pudding have the same kind of feel as the traditional bake but with a lighter taste.

Top tip: Whenever you make you Christmas pudding, it will take up to 4 hours to re-heat on Christmas day as you need to steam it to do this. Give yourself plenty of time – you don’t want lots of hungry faces waiting for their pud!

See something you like? Save all your favourite recipes in one place by starting your own recipe book on goodtoknow.