My Christmas Shortbread

 

You can call this Christmas shortbread, Scottish shortbread, plain shortbread, magical shortbread, delicious shortbread, Granny's shortbread, or Vintage shortbread. What's in a name anyway, because the main thing is that this is a delicious biscuit recipe and a cinch to make in time for Christmas. Only 3 simple main ingredients are needed. Just what you need at Christmas time.

In My Kitchen, November 2023

What a varied month it's been, and as always, the cooking I do in my lovely kitchen reflects what is in season, my use of any produce gifted to me, what I have the time to cook and those recipes which I love to cook. So, I'm excited to be sharing a few new recipes with you this time, although regular readers of my blog may have already seen them. However, that doesn't mean I'm not excited about bringing you some old favourites as well. I suspect that like me, your cooking repertoire contains those recipes that are on high rotation in your kitchen and contains some old and tried but true recipes which feel like a big hug from faithful friends, which always feels so reassuring. With Christmas well and truly on the horizon now, some nostalgia is creeping into my cooking as well.

It's All about Christmas In My Kitchen

Here in Tropical North Queensland, our verandahs and patios become as much a part of our kitchen and eating area as our inside kitchen does. We spend a lot of time outside in our outdoor kitchen. So I thought as part of my In My Kitchen series for Sherry's Pickings, it was appropriate to showcase my latest orchid which is flowering in my outdoor kitchen. 

Gran's Scottish Shortbread recipe

You can call this Christmas shortbread, Scottish shortbread, Plain shortbread, Delicious shortbread, Granny's shortbread, or Vintage shortbread. What's in a name anyway, because the main thing is that this is a delicious recipe and a cinch to make. If you have plain flour, icing sugar, butter and a pinch of salt in your kitchen cupboards, you can make it. The only obstacle could be the 7 inch or 18 cm diameter tin needed to bake two shortbread circles in, but I will talk about that later.

 I have torrents of Scottish blood running through my veins, so when I made this I thought of all my Scottish ancestors, my dear Mum and also my favourite Great Aunt Eilleen (not on the Scottish side) but a great cook, who always produced delicious shortbread at Christmas time, which is the traditional time in Australia to eat shortbread.These are mouth wateringly good and have the distinctive buttery flavour unique to shortbread.




So this was a practice run for me my friends, as in case you didn't realise, it's only two months until Christmas (sorry) and I always like to introduce at least one  new cooking achievement at Christmas to surprise our family. This will be it. This is a very old recipe, which was given to me by a friend, also called Pauline,  who is a long standing member of my Book Club group. I've only just joined this group and am really enjoying it. Book club Pauline made this for the first book club meeting I attended, and then again at the third one held at her beautiful home, as part of a lovely afternoon tea spread, as it was one of the lady's birthdays. Pauline said that she was given this recipe by her Gran, and it was the first  sweet thing she ever cooked after she was married, and now it is the only biscuit she ever cooks. I feel very privileged to have been given this recipe, so thank you Pauline. 

I am really enjoying the Book Club, and what strikes me as special is that everyone who attends is valued for their individual opinion about the chosen book we have all read, and every comment is treated with interest and respect. It also doesn't matter if you haven't managed to read the whole book, as the conversation is always stimulating and quite intelligent, and afternoon tea is always delicious, a definite plus. The latest book we read was a collection of short stories by Western Australian author Robert Drewe, titled "The True Colour of the Sea". Each story was linked to water in some way. I haven't read a collection of short stories for a long time, but I loved this author's quirky writing style and how he engaged the reader from the first page. Well worth a read.




The only potential problem for me with this recipe was that because it is very old, it requires two x 18cm or (7 inch) shallow cake tins which can't be bought anymore. Perhaps they can be found in the cities where there are more specialist kitchen shops or at garage sales or op shops. I had two of them which were my Mum's but they are now in Cairns in my daughter's house. Cake tins, saucepans and cutlery sets have often been passed down through generations, however the healthy emphasis on decluttering has possibly curbed that tradition. When Mr. HRK got wind of my cake tin dilemma, he sprung into action and was off to the Incredible Tip shop before I could say Jack Robinson, looking for some stainless steel to make two specially designed cake rings, similar to the  egg rings we used to poach eggs in but much larger. Do you remember those? I remember them being difficult to clean. In the end he found what he wanted at Bunnings, of course, and I now have two custom designed aluminium cake rings, 18 cm in diameter, with a lip for easy removal. Perfect for the task in hand. I told him he should patent the design, but he is a very modest handyman.




Both of them fit on my large biscuit tray and they worked a treat for cooking the shortbread. Having said all of that my friends, a shallow 8 inch cake tin would probably work just as well,  as most of them have a  7 inch (18cm) diameter base anyway. With a high sided tin though, it is trickier to remove the shortbread triangles from the tin. The cake rings are both perfectly circular although the photo makes one look a little bent.

I  have a family Scottish tartan which my Mum and her Granny were very proud of, the Royal Stuart tartan. I was pretty excited about it as well,  and then we visited Scotland and it was everywhere in the tourist shops but of course I bought a scarf anyway, which makes a rare appearance in the North Queensland Winter, ha ha, or in these shortbread photos.



Mr. HRK also has a Scottish tartan, the MacGregor clan tartan; his ancestors originated from the unruly MacGregor clan in the Scottish Highlands, the name was even banned at one stage, not nearly as refined as mine ha, ha. I could tell you the very interesting story of how shortbread was really launched in Scotland by Mary, Queen of Scots, but can be traced back in a variety of forms to the 12th century, and how it is still traditionally offered to the "first footers" at New Year. However look it up here on Historic UK if you are interested in knowing more. There is plenty written about this iconic Scottish biscuit, and I love the history of foods, but I think we need to bake don't you?




Let's Cook:

Ingredients converted from the original imperial to metric measurement:

3 oz (87 g) sifted icing sugar
6 oz (175 g) softened butter
8 oz (225 g) sifted plain flour
pinch of salt

Equipment:

2 x 18 cm (7 inch diameter) shallow cake tins

Method:

Dust 2 x 18 cm (7 inch) diameter shallow cake tins with plain flour. I dusted my biscuit tray with plain flour, and greased the cake rings.

Heat oven to 140 deg. C

Beat together (87 g) 3 oz sifted icing sugar or icing mixture, and (175 g) 6 oz butter until pale and creamy. If the butter is softened, this takes hardly any time at all.




Add a pinch of salt to 225 g (8 oz plain flour) and sift it.

Fold flour into mixture, about a quarter at a time.




Remove mixture from the bowl and bring together on a floured bench.




Divide into 2 equal portions and press into the cake tins.




 I then rolled it with a small bottle to smooth out the surface.





Mark around the edges by pinching the mixture between thumb and forefinger (not essential if this doesn't make sense).




Take a cocktail fork or skewer and press about a dozen holes into the mixture. Shortbread always looks very attractive and tastes sweeter if sprinkled lightly with caster sugar before popping it in the oven. I omitted that step but I will do it for the Christmas version.

Bake for about 40 minutes (if you like it even crispier/crunchier cook for a bit longer). Mine took 50 minutes and was perfect, but definitely check it after 40 minutes. It should be very slightly browned.

Remove the tins or the biscuit tray onto a wire cooler and immediately cut into 12 triangular pieces as with a pizza.

Allow to cool in the tins.




If you don't have scales that show imperial as well as metric measures, the following is pretty close:

3oz = 87 g   6oz = 175g   8 oz = 225 g

Shortbread continues to be a lovely gift to bake for friends at Christmas time, and wrapped in tartan or presented in a beautiful biscuit tin, with a tartan ribbon, I think it is still considered to be special holding a certain mystique about it.




Thanks for dropping by,

Best wishes,

Pauline

A touch of Christmas Red in our Tropical Garden

This morning the sky was blue, and the garden looking lovely, despite the ominous warnings of the impending cyclone, named Owen. However as the day has drawn on, the weather has become more sultry, the skies cloudy, and the weather forecasts are changing by the hour it seems. I think that the media drives a lot of these reports however the average person is over a barrel in determining what is actually happening, and often it is a wait and see game. We should see some weather action here  by Tuesday.

I hope you enjoy these photos of my garden turning on it's red Christmas lights, without any batteries or electricity involved, just the sun and the rain. The African Blood Lillies appeared without any fanfare and are stealing the show, and the rain has certainly helped their bulbs to multiply and produce magnificent blooms this year.

African Blood Lilly

Medinilla

Bromeliad flower

I hope you enjoy your weekend my friends. I have had enough of the shops this Christmas. I think that one of the solutions to a stress free Christmas is to stay away from the shops and shopping centres as much as possible.  All of my Christmas shopping and wrapping is done, our Christmas letter written, Christmas menu partly planned (of course), edible gifts distributed, and now I am preparing batches of Rum Balls, and whatever else I find time to do. 

I have been surprised, frustrated  and dismayed at the amount of up selling that department store staff are trying on this year with every customer. Surely this must result in overspending by many people which becomes very stressful when the credit card is due in January. No doubt the message and training is coming from upper management to shop staff to try and sell as much as possible above and beyond what the customer came into the shop for. Oh well it didn't work with me.

On the kitchen front, I made a delicious cake loaf yesterday, which I hope to share with you in the next couple of days, combining Dulce de Leche, banana, spice and all things nice. Stay tuned for that. Hopefully I will get back to blogging in the next couple of days.

Take care everyone and I hope you have Christmas preparations under control and don't feel stressed out by it all. 

Best wishes

Pauline

My Green Mango Chutney recipe, it's spicy and sweet

This Mango Chutney, made from green mangoes freshly foraged, is a family recipe from my Mum and her family which I have always used. Anglo-Indian style chutneys basically consist of a fruit or vegetable, malt or cider vinegars, sugar, herbs and spices. The sugar and vinegar act as preservatives and as the ratio of sugar to fruit is the same, it should only be eaten as a condiment because of the high sugar content which is similar to jam. You could say that this is a sweet and sour version of a mango jam. The cooking technique is similar to jam making. It is delicious eaten on the side with Christmas Ham (which is traditional in our house), grilled bacon, Indian curries and dishes, chickpea salads or with cheese. I sometimes add it to some minced beef dishes or any that I think need added flavour. Beef Chow Mein comes to mind. When I make this, it also means that Christmas is just around the corner.

Dates, raisins and ginger ready for the pot

This recipe makes from 13-15 jars depending on the size of your jars. Smaller ones are good for gifts, and are always appreciated by friends as this is a big project in the scheme of time spent preparing the ingredients and stirring the pot, and then bottling. This time, I peeled and chopped up the mangoes by hand the day before, refrigerated them overnight in a covered container and they were still beautifully fresh the next day. We had handpicked them (see story here) only the day before from the nearby Old Station Teahouse. A word of caution about handpicking mangoes if you haven't done it before. As you pull the mango off the branch, stand clear of the sap which drips with gay abandon and a very sweet smell.  

My chutney making became a 3 day event. Picking them one day, peeling and chopping them and sorting out the other ingredients the next day, and cooking the mixture up on the third day, as well as chopping and slicing the other dried ingredients. However the flavour is worth it and this sensational, caramelised reduction will last in your pantry for 3-5 years, and then the opened bottle continues to mature in the refrigerator for a long time. I have never had to throw any out. There is no need for any nasty numbered preservatives or additives that we see on the supermarket chutney and relish labels. The vinegar, sugar and spices do the preservation work.

Ingredients are ready on the bench for the following day

Let's cook:

Ingredients:

There is no need to buy expensive ingredients for this recipe.

• 2 kg green mango flesh, the seed definitely not included (Use any kind of very green mango but Common mangoes have always been the traditional mango to use because they are great for chutney making but not for eating, they have stringy flesh,  and can be obtained very cheaply in North Queensland and the Northern Territory as the trees grow wild.) Peel them, slice and chop the flesh, but not the seed, or pulse them in the food processor into small pieces, but not minced pieces.
• 2 kg sugar (use the cheapest white sugar you can find at the supermarket, it makes no difference)
• 250g raisins, chopped
• 250g pitted dates,  chopped
• 250g crystallised ginger, uncrystallised or naked, chopped. Fresh can also be used if you have enough.
• 90g salt (taste it toward the end of cooking and add more if necessary)
• 900ml brown (malt) vinegar ( the cheapest brown vinegar will do)
• 5 birds eye chillies, chop them and remove the seeds (use gloves to do this)
• 125g garlic cloves (chopped or pulsed in the food processor)
• This recipe makes about 13 assorted sized jars. Have 15 ready just in case.

TIP: It is good to use some small jars as well, to give away to friends at Christmas, and throughout the year.

Sterilise your jars and lids: 

Start to sterilise your jars and lids before the cooking begins, by either washing them in the dishwasher, and then drying them off in the oven at 120 degrees, or hand wash them in hot soapy water, rinse them, and then heat them in the oven at 120 degrees for 20 minutes. It is good to time the final process of heating the jars and lids in the oven, to ensure that the bottles are still hot when the chutney is cooked and ready for bottling. The hot chutney needs to be ladled into hot jars using a wide funnel if possible. Remember to sterilise your funnel and ladle as well.

Let's cook:

Place all of your ingredients into a large heavy base stock pot. This recipe uses a manageable quantity of mango. If you double the amount of ingredients, you run the risk of burning the chutney and having to use a huge pot.

I use a long wooden spoon for stirring with. It is necessary to stir the mixture regularly to prevent the risk of burning on the base of the pot.

After about 45 minutes, the mixture will start to transform into a rich, caramel colour, and to thicken. This is when constant stirring is essential so that it doesn't thicken too much on the bottom of the pot and burn. Anytime after this you can start to test it to see if it is ready and is setting.

This is the same process as testing if jam is set. Test if it is ready, by putting a teaspoon full on a small saucer which you have already placed in the freezer for 10 minutes. Place it back in the freezer for a few minutes. If you can run your finger through it when it is cold and it leaves a gap then it has gelled and is ready for bottling. However at this point the colour and consistency of the chutney will be changing to a darker colour and thickening.

Neil is a great help with the ladling of the chutney into the jars, and cleaning up afterwards.

Our young neighbour from up the road dropped in for a chat and a lesson on how to make chutney, ha, ha. He's a bit camera shy though. He even liked the taste.

Bottle the chutney while still hot, and be careful. Use a large soup ladle, and a large necked funnel makes the process a lot easier.

Invert your full and lidded bottles for a few minutes, careful though because they are hot, and then stand them up the right way to cool.




You may hear some of the lids popping as they cool, which is a good sign that they are well sealed and the chutney will keep in the pantry for a few years.




The flavour and texture will develop beautifully during that time. An aged bottle of mango chutney is a precious commodity.

Another annual tradition is completed and it looks like a good batch. Every time I make this though, I learn something new, and now I cook it outside on the gas burner because the heat is better controlled than on my stove hotplates.

All of my jars are now labelled and stored in the pantry. Oops, I forgot to take a photo of them labelled.

Have you started any Christmas preparations yet or made some chutney? I know it is only November, but life can get busy from here on.

Jump to recipe here:

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. I would enjoy hearing from you in the comments section at the bottom of the post

Best wishes

Pauline

Home made gifts ready for Christmas

Caribbean Rum and Gingerbread Balls

Rum Balls have always been such a classic part of the Christmas treats in our home, but to my way of thinking the classics are the forms that can spawn a plethora of variations. Hence, these Gingerbread Balls are based on the idea of Rum balls but use Ginger cake as a base, with the addition of Caribbean Rum and the exotic Stem Ginger, an ideal marriage of flavours. There is no cooking involved, unless you want to make the ginger cake yourself. I have only been able to find good stem ginger at specialist Delicatessen stores, but I'm sure it is more readily available in the cities. More ginger can be added to this recipe for the gingerholics.

These will be Christmas gifts made with love for my friends, which I find more satisfying and meaningful than presenting them with something I have purchased. I hope they feel the same way. Since I have finished work, I guess I approach a lot of things differently, and  now that I can I enjoy spending more of my time being creative in my kitchen, a valued luxury of retirement.

Ingredients:

500g homemade ginger cake, crumbled, or take the shortcut and buy a Ginger Loaf (Coles has them).
3/4 cup (60g) desiccated coconut
1/3 cup (80ml) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup finely chopped stem ginger, drained of syrup or use Naked uncrystallised ginger
2-3 tbs. Caribbean or Bundaberg (dark) rum (optional)
1/3 cup (65g) dark chocolate chips
Extra desiccated coconut for the coating

Makes about 40 balls.

Method:

1. Place the cake crumbs, coconut, condensed milk, rum, and chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir until well combined.
2. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Roll 1 tablespoonful of the mixture into a ball. Place on the lined tray and continue with the rest of the mixture.
3. Place extra coconut on a plate. Roll the balls in the coconut to coat. Place in an airtight container and store in the fridge.