Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar
This book is an armchair traveler's dream. Take a trip through a Scottish bakery's kitchen with recipes for rye bread, pickled green tomatoes, whiskey eccles, and a very rich chocolate cake called the devil's double. My favorite: a perfect buttery shortbread from the author's granny. A second recipe, for Angus’ shortbread, is also included. Buy the book and bake them both. And call your mother!
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This is a Scottish cookbook. I was never going to limit myself to only one shortbread recipe. These two are from the best bakers I know – you can decide which one you prefer. The methods are much the same; however, the resulting texture and consistency is different. My granny’s recipe is more akin to a traditional shortbread, the sort that a lot of people will associate with their granny’s. Hers tends to be quite crisp and is normally cooked a little longer than Angus’. She also uses the back of a fork to scratch a ridged surface on the top, which forms perfect little divots for the sugar to fill and cling on to. Angus’ has a far softer texture and more melt-in-the mouth consistency. To be honest, it was much too difficult a call to pick between the two, so I will let you make that decision yourself.
GRANNY JOAN’S
140 g (5 oz/scant 2/3 cup) caster (superfine) sugar, plus extra for dusting
280 g (10 oz) unsalted butter
425 g (15 oz/3 ½ cups) plain(all-purpose) flour
Preheat your oven to 140ºC (280ºF/Gas 3). Grease and line a deep, 23 cm (9 in) square baking tin.
For the shortbread base, beat the sugar and butter until pale and well combined – I find a hand-held electric mixer works best for this, but if your butter is soft, you can do this with a wooden spoon. Once the sugar and butter mix is pale in colour, add the flour(s). Beat it again but only for a moment, until the mixture resembles sandy breadcrumbs. Tip the mixture into the lined tin, pressing down very lightly so it becomes level. Bake for 30–40 minutes, or until pale golden in colour and cooked through. Sprinkle with caster sugar immediately, then allow to cool for 15 minutes. Slice into your chosen shape, be it bars or squares, then cool completely before removing from the tin.
Recipe excerpted with permission from Aran by Flora Shedden, photographs by Laura Edwards, published by Hardie Grant Books.
Tracey Zabar's Chocolate Chip Sweets: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes is available here.
A delectable collection of innovative chocolate chip recipes by world-renowned chefs, pastry chefs, and bakers
Tracey Zabar's One Sweet Cookie Cookbook is available here.
A delicious collection of cookie recipes from extraordinary chefs, pastry chefs, and bakers. A great gift sure to delight anyone who loves to bake.
