In My Tropical Kitchen, April 2026

The month of March and into early April, including Easter Week, called for some calming and comforting food, and some careful planning. I needed assurance that food would be catered for throughout the month and particularly over Easter when our club's Annual Easter Indoor Pickleball Tournament was being held, and most importantly, our daughter Shannon was driving home for Easter. I know that also means that a cake needs to be baked, and I also planned that her favourite Monte Carlo biscuits would be in the biscuit tin, or in the refrigerator, still necessary at this time of year.

Monte Carlo Biscuits

Hope's delicious Monte Carlos have been a favourite biscuit amongst our family for as long as I can remember. When our daughter said she would love Ma Ma's (my Mum's) original recipe, I was inspired to find it. I've really enjoyed doing some research, baking a few batches of biscuits, comparing her handwritten recipe with others, and now I am very happy that I can bake Monte Carlo's exactly the same as Mum did, from her original recipe. They taste perfect.

The Lemon Bar Slice

I thought about calling this a Lemon Curd slice because the lemon topping tastes just like delicious lemon curd to me. If you love the tangy and sweet flavours of lemon curd, then you will adore this slice. However, as I didn't make the lemon topping the same way that I would make a batch of lemon curd, either in the microwave or on the stovetop,  I thought it might be misleading. Despite the deliberation, here we have a beautiful lemon curd like topping on a crunchy biscuit base, all in one. What could be better?

Cumquat Marmalade, Ginger and Oat slice

This slice incorporates the nostalgic flavours of ANZAC biscuits, Grandma's Cumquat marmalade, and the warmth of ginger spice, into one delicious layer of biscuit. This is  a great one for the weekend. Think breakfast, morning tea, or afternoon tea or take it into work to win a few extra brownie points.

Delicious Ginger Crunch Slice

This Ginger Crunch slice has a melt in your mouth shortbread base, and a delicious ginger caramel icing. If you haven't already tried this slice, prepare to fall in love. I really doubt that you will be able to stop at 1 piece, we couldn't.

Hope's Date Rollettes, a classic delicious biscuit

Imagine a delicious, oval shaped biscuit rolled in coconut, and surprisingly encasing a sweet, chewy, and caramelly edible date, and you have Date Rollettes, a confection which my Mother used to bake for us on a regular basis. We loved them.

Chocolate Oatmeal Biscuits or Cookies

 

These Chocolate Oatmeal biscuits are everything that I love about a biscuit. When I made this latest batch with the addition of Dutch Chocolate powder, I realised they are perfect to also enjoy for breakfast, and I don't usually eat cakes or biscuits at the start of my day. 

The Best Air Fryer Chocolate and Coconut Weet-Bix Slice

This chocolatey, crunchy biscuit slice with a rich chocolate icing will hold it's own and steal the show on any coffee table. It is like a little slice of Aussie history on a plate, but the Air Fryer has brought it back on board to now. This is the first sweet confection I have made in my new Russell Hobbs air-fryer (no promo intended) and I'm  thrilled with the result. 

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.

Afghan biscuits, the traditional New Zealand Anzac Day biscuit and homemade Anzac biscuits

 LEST WE FORGET!

 ANZAC Day is remembered in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday the 25th April each year and is a declared public holiday in Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Norfolk Island, and Tokelau. To commemorate this sad occasion, many of us in Australia and New Zealand will be either making a batch of the traditional Anzac biscuits, or a batch of these delicious Afghan biscuits, which have no connection to the Afghan people or their country of origin. 

Chinese Chocolate Chews

 

Do you ever need to bake something quickly on the weekend when you hear that friends are coming over later, and you have a lot going on? Or you just feel like something chocolatey and easy to bake, that sounds like me.  This is an iced chocolate biscuit slice to solve that problem. So quick, easy and delicious as well, and who doesn't love a chocolate slice with lots of chocolate icing. If you have nuts on hand, crush a few and sprinkle them across the top while still warm, or sprinkle coconut over the top. If you are cutting down on sugar, I think that a sugar substitute would also work well in this recipe. This recipe is from one of my Mum's original recipe books which I was reading through just the other day, and I spotted this one. I don't think a recipe like this one ever dates.

Tropical Ginger, Coconut and Lemon Slice

Allow me to present a nostalgic and vintage style slice for you on a Sunday. At this time of year in our Southern Hemisphere Winter, which I am loving, ginger is my favourite spice, and I use it whenever I can in savoury and sweet cooking. Ginger has an irresistable combination  of hot, clean and cool flavours. Although to be honest, Middle Eastern Baharat comes a close second to Ginger for me, and I use it in my iced Ginger Cake or my Ginger Syrup Cake (same recipe). I try to always substitute Baharat for the mixed spice. 

Delicious and Healthy Wholewheat, Chocolate and Oatmeal Biscuits/Cookies

 Even though this is one of the healthiest biscuit recipes I have ever baked, it is also one of the most delicious.

Almond Flour Peanut Butter Biscuits/Cookies Recipe

These gluten free, Almond Flour Peanut Butter cookies or biscuits will be ready to eat within 20 minutes, and I promise you that no-one will be able to resist them. When life gets busy, but a sweet treat is still needed, I bake biscuits, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are one of the most delicious combinations you will find. These are perfect to have on hand over the weekend, although this recipe makes 36 cookies, too many for us, so I have given some of the batch away to friends. We all have friends and relatives who are gluten intolerant, and I wanted to know I could produce a quick batch of biscuits for them if necessary. I am really happy with the crisp texture of these biscuits, and they are also very satisfying and quite filling to eat. This recipe is from the Marcellina in Cucina blog, she is also a North Queensland girl like me, and I like to follow what she is doing. 

Speaking of North Queensland, we are very lucky to have one of our very talented home grown Opera singers, Paul Ettore Tabone back in Australia from London. Paul Ettore Tabone, the tenor from Oz. In between his Australian shows and performances, he and his partner are living with Paul's Italian parents on their sugarcane farm near Ingham. Paul finished his UK opera season last March with Phantom of the Opera in London, where he played Ubaldo Piangi for four years, until the coronavirus lockdown drew the curtain at Her Majesty's Theatre in London to a close. Meanwhile their loss is our gain, as Mr. HRK and I attended his concert at our nearby Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music here in Mackay recently and it was just lovely. Paul was at his best, vocally. Director of the CQCM, Professor Judith Brown was the piano accompanist for Paul and their synergy on stage is extraordinary.

Paul Ettore Tabone at Her Majesty's Theatre in London

 I feel quite an attachment to Paul and his career, as when he was a Music Theatre student here in Mackay at the CQCM, part of my role at the Central Queensland University Library was as the Music and Performing Arts Librarian at the CQCM, and Paul  was a student for 3 years during this period so by the end of the three years I knew him quite well. As with most small regional universities, one of the benefits is that staff develop a rapport with their students.  It is so rewarding now to see him achieving on the world stage of opera and music theatre. If I've piqued your interest about Paul's career, he is in Australia to start rehearsing for the Sydney season of Phantom of the Opera, which hopefully will go ahead sooner rather than later. He also mentioned they are hoping for an outdoor performance of the show at Sydney Harbour. If you happened to watch the Rugby Union match in Townsville last Saturday Night, at Queensland Country Bank Stadium between Australia and Argentina, either on the TV or were actually at the match, you would have seen Paul sing the Australian National Anthem, Advance Australia Fair, and ending on a beautiful high note.. How's that for an impressive introduction to a football match. 

Cook's notes:

From the start, apologies for any duplication here and in the actual recipe. I have lots of little tips to take in when baking these,and I don't want you to miss them.

• Using a small biscuit/cookie scoop,  a small version of an ice-cream scoop, available from kitchen shops,  will make it much easier to portion out biscuit dough onto the baking tray. However my Mother didn't have one and she made great biscuits. A teaspoon will also do.

• Stir the peanut butter well before measuring, just like tahini.
• Don't get distracted during the baking process, you will need to keep an eye on these little gems in the oven to ensure they aren't burning.
• If you are intending these biscuits to be completely gluten free, check all the ingredients, the peanut butter, vanilla extract and the chocolate chips to ensure they are 100% gluten free and suitable.
• Total preparation time is 20 minutes.
• Almond flour is quite expensive, however it brings wonderful texture to these biscuits, and they are quite filling. It has a lighter texture than almond meal, and is rich in magnesium, protein, and Vitamin E.
• Looking for a variation to this recipe, no problem. Why not add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger or cinnamon to the mixture. We love ginger here, so I sometimes add one whole teaspoon of powdered ginger, this certainly adds some extra pizzazz.
• Instead of chocolate chips, use some regular M&Ms for fun, they are gluten free last time I looked, or raisins, or chopped nuts, such as pecans, cashews, or walnuts, or dried berries.

Ingredients:

MAKES 36 BISCUITS

2 1/4 cups almond flour

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy), stir well in bottle before measuring to include the oils 

1 egg

3/4 cup castor sugar, or superfine white

1/2 cup (4 oz/115 grams) unsalted butter (softened)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chocolate chips (plus more for decorating)

Method:

 Preheat your oven to 180 deg. C/350 deg F.

Line two large baking trays with baking paper.

Add the almond flour and baking powder to a bowl and whisk to remove any lumps.

Add the softened butter, peanut butter,and sugars to your electric mixing bowl. Beat until it becomes nice and creamy. This combination creams up beautifully.

Add the beaten egg and the vanilla extract then beat again until completely combined.

Remove bowl from the electric mixer, and stir in the almond flour and baking powder mixture.

Add the chocolate chips, and stir through. The mixture will form a ball in your bowl.

Using a small biscuit/cookie scoop, select scoops of dough and  place on the baking paper allowing room for spreading. or if you don't have a cookie scoop, roll a heaped teaspoonful of dough into small balls and place on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned. However check at 8 minutes that they aren't burning, this all depends on how hot your oven is. They might even need 12 minutes. Leave to slightly cool on the baking tray before removing to the cooling rack using a knife to lift them.They will crisp up as they cool.

Enjoy your week,

Warm wishes,

Pauline

Melt in Your Mouth "Custard Kisses" for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I found this nostalgic recipe for Custard Kisses in one of my Mother's old recipe books and I thought they would be perfect to make for Valentine's Day for a little treat. They are a beautiful, melt in the mouth, dainty biscuit, perfect to enjoy with a cup of tea.

Ricciarelli Biscuits or Italian Almond Biscuits

Italian biscuits like these are always such a treat. The Christmas Countdown is on for us. My daughter and family arrive on Monday from Cairns which is such a joyous thought, however that means lots of cooking, cleaning and organising, but as much time for blogging. 

SHOWCASING IN MY KITCHEN : August 2020

Where has this month gone or in fact the year? I am way behind with In My Kitchen this month, partly because I was thinking about what I could write, have I done anything exciting enough to warrant a post, and now because of the procrastination I hope I'm not too late? I've just spent the morning in the garden with Mr. HRK which is the routine for us this week if retail therapy isn't enticing me out of the house, and it's warming up so we definitely need to back inside by 11 am for a cuppa. However there's been lots of cooking with fresh fruit and vegetables, sourdough bread making, lots of gardening, and a visit to a strawberry farm nearby to pick some strawberries.

Afghan Biscuits, a delicious New Zealand confection

Afghan biscuits have no connection to the Afghan people or their country of origin, which seems very strange. Surprisingly they originate from New Zealand, from over the ditch, and are their counterpart to our Anzac biscuit, according to the locals. However this is a delicious biscuit, and shouldn't just be enjoyed on Anzac Day. They are really a chocolate, butter and corn flake confection, although weetbix makes a very suitable substitute for cornflakes in this recipe. I had never heard of Afghan biscuits until last April, when  our good friend Christine invited us for coffee on the 26th April, the day after Anzac Day. She had made Afghan biscuits with weetbix which were absolutely delicious. Some New Zealand friends of her daughters make them every year and this is the recipe that she gave me. I have been wanting to make them ever since.
I don't really buy Corn Flakes just to eat as a cereal, as I can't see many nutritional benefits, however Mr. HRK is happy to eat a bowl of them whenever he is feeling like cereal. I bought these a couple of weeks ago to make these biscuits and here they are finally. I love the crinkly texture of these biscuits when I eat them. I made them with weetbix a month or so ago, and a young friend who was visiting said it was just like eating chocolate crackles, remember those? Great children's party food. Those ones weren't iced though. So I had to make another batch and ice them, and add the walnut, so that they look pretty for a photo. 

ICING TIP: I loved working with the icing for these biscuits. It came together beautifully and I adore chocolate icing, such a guilty pleasure. Here's just a small tip with icing these biscuits. I made the icing quite firm, whilst I was baking the biscuits and left it in the bowl until the biscuits cooled. I then added just a few drops of warm water which was enough to make the icing more spreadable. Then using an old tip from my Mum, I placed a bread and butter knife in a cup of hot water, and used the warm blade of the knife to carefully spread the icing on the biscuits. A hot knife makes icing much more spreadable and it doesn't drizzle off the biscuit. You don't want that. The trick is not to have runny icing for biscuits. This amount was perfect for 18 biscuits. 

These are the fastest biscuits to make. This batch took me 30 minutes from beginning to end, not including the icing. That's the beauty of baking biscuits.

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 180 deg. C. (350 deg. F)

Makes 18 biscuits

200 g (7 oz.) butter, softened or melted

1/2 cup or (75 g, 3 oz) sugar

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1/4 cup cocoa

2 cups cornflakes ( 50g or 2 ozs) or crushed weetbix

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Chocolate icing:

1 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar

1 heaped tablespoon sifted cocoa (sift with the icing sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon melted butter

1-2 tablespoons water

18 walnut halves

Cornflakes added to mixture

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 deg. C. (350 deg. F.)

Prepare a large oven tray by greasing or spraying lightly with cooking spray, and covering with baking paper. I used a large one and a smaller one.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.

Sift flour and cocoa. Stir into creamed mixture, and add vanilla essence.

Fold in cornflakes or weetbix. It will form into a ball.

Take tablespoon sized amounts and roll into balls and spread evenly on the tray. Flatten balls lightly with a fork or your finger.

Bake at 180 deg. for about15 minutes or until set. They will be a little soft when they come out of the oven but will crisp up. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Prepare the Icing:

In a medium bowl combine the sifted icing sugar and cocoa, vanilla and melted butter and mix.

Slowly add the water a little at a time until a firm consistency is reached. If you add too much water, just add some more icing sugar until the desired consistency/.

When cold, ice the biscuits and decorate with a walnut half.

Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

It's time for afternoon tea, so I am having a cuppa and one of these biscuits. Please take care during these difficult times.

Thanks for dropping by,

Pauline

p.s I just found this after I posted my first recipe. My friends, if you are running short of time and need to make an even faster batch of biscuits, this recipe for Afghans is taken from the Edmonds Cookery Book, New Zealand's no. 1 cookbook, first printed 1955.

Easy Afghans

1 packet Edmonds Chocolate cake mix
50 g (2ozs) Butter, melted
2 cups cornflakes
2 tablespoons water

Combine all ingredients to form a stiff dough. Drop teaspoons of mixture onto a greased oven tray. Bake at 180 deg. C (350 deg F.) for 15 minutes in a preheated oven. When cold, ice with chocolate icing if desired.

Anzac Biscuits and Anzac Day in isolation

On Anzac Day in Australia, always the 25th of April,  we remember those heroes, the personnel of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps,  who have fought to defend Australia's freedom in the past, and also those who are still serving in many capacities to protect our country. This year Anzac Day seems even more poignant than ever as we remember our family members who served in both World War 1 and World War 11, the Vietnamese War, and others, whilst we observe all of the remembrance messages from our lounge room. This morning at 6 am, Mr. HRK and I participated in the RSL (Returned Services League) Light up the Dawn Anzac Day service from our driveway with Locky.

We saw 10 people in our street participating, united in spirit, remembering all those who have served and sacrificed for the lifestyle we enjoy in Australia today.  I am so thankful to be living in this great Southern Land right now. However it is important that we also remember and thank all of the amazing people who are still keeping our country functioning during COVID-19, another war of sorts, especially the health workers in the hospitals including nurses, doctors, allied health workers, the paramedics, and also the teachers who are trying to hold classrooms of confused students together. My son-in-law Daniel is a nurse, and our daughter Shannon is a Speech Pathologist, both of them working in a very large hospital where there have been cases of the virus. Worrying times, and there are so many dedicated people to thank.

This photo is of a batch of Anzac biscuits I baked last year, with a slightly different recipe, however they were still delicious but not quite as crispy if I remember correctly. That recipe is on my blog from back then as well.

Yesterday before Anzac Day, our household was slightly chaotic as the dishwasher decided to stop working, so Mr. HRK, alias Mr. DIY spent a large part of the day on the kitchen floor, exploring every nook and cranny of the dishwasher. In a kitchen like mine where a lot of cooking is done, the dishwasher is an essential piece of equipment and I admit I take it for granted that it will be there to perform and clean up for me. Well this morning, Anzac morning, it still wasn't working. Mr. HRK has finally come to the conclusion that a new part needs to be ordered online, at some expense, although still cheaper than calling out a technician so I did the largest washing up this morning that I have done for a long time. I've given myself permission to avoid any unnecessary baking and cooking whenever possible until the dishwasher is fixed. 

Whilst the dishwasher and Mr. HRK were in disarray, I was focussed on producing a crisp batch of Anzac biscuits, chewy wouldn't do. They had to be crisp. So I was working around him, and thankfully biscuits are one of the quickest and easiest  sweets to bake, all going well, so we both survived the experience. This is my biscuit recipe, and I am putting this on my blog for you my freinds, and for me as if I don't make another batch before next Anzac Day my memory could be a bit fuzzy as to what recipe I actually used. 12 months is a long time. There was a lot of Anzac biscuit baking being done yesterday in Australia according to my friends on Facebook, with lots of  suggestions for the best biscuit floating around and thankfully  my recipe worked very well. Baking Anzac biscuits is just another expression of the importance we place on the commemoration of Anzac Day. My son Matthew who is working and living in the Falkland Islands with his family at present, sent me a photo this morning of the batch of Anzacs he made, which I think were to make him feel as if he is participating in the commemorations. Every year he has always attended the Dawn Service in Australia, and in the Falkland Islands normally the Australians and the New Zealanders would attend the Anzac service at the Cenotaph in Stanley, the capital where he lives. I was so proud of him, he produced a crispy batch and a chewy batch to suit all tastes he said. I suspect the crispy batch were a little burnt, ha, ha, but that is besides the point. They all still looked edible.

 Let's Bake, it's not too late.

Anzac Biscuit ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup plain flour

1 cup sugar, white or brown (I used white castor sugar this time. My friend Robyn used brown, with the same result)

3/4 cup desiccated coconut

2 tablespoons golden syrup

125g (4 oz) butter
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method:

• Melt the butter over a low heat in a small saucepan and then add the syrup
• Add the Bicarbonate of soda to the melted butter and syrup. Wait for it to froth up. If it doesn't, you know that the bicarb soda is old and needs replacing
• Mix the oats, sifted flour, sugar, and coconut together in a large separate bowl
• Add the frothy syrup and butter mixture to the dry ingredients
• If the mixture seems to be a bit too wet but it shouldn't be, just add a little extra flour and mix into the dough until it is a good consistency to form into balls
• Place tablespoon fulls of the biscuit mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper
• Press down the biscuits slightly with a fork which may need to be dipped in flour, until they are the shape and size that you want
• Place your  biscuit trays filled with biscuits in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes, this will stop the biscuits from spreading on the tray which can happen with Anzac biscuits
• Bake in a moderate oven, 180 deg. C, for 15 minutes until nicely browned. They will crisp up when they are taken out of the oven to cool. Leave them to cool on the biscuit tray until they firm up. If your oven is a really hot oven though, reduce the temperature,

Makes about 25.

Taking a leaf out of the book of the soldiers and military personnel we are remembering, together we will get through during these difficult times. Stay safe and united everyone.

Best wishes,

Pauline

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