I can see why many of my friends dislike baking. Baking instruction always seems to begin with a stern admonition that goes something like, “Unlike cooking, baking is serious business requiring great precision. It is gravely important that you follow all instruction to the letter — all improvisation, experimentation and other forms of self-expression will almost certainly end in total failure.” In other words, this isn’t arts and crafts, kids, it’s chemistry. Fun.
They mean well, though, and they have a point. Most baking projects are good for times when you’re in the mood for some quiet, careful work. And, unless you really know what you’re doing, serious detours are, in fact, likely to result in a mess. But not all of them.
Take, for instance, shortbread. It is the buttery prince of cookies, and the fun little brother of pound cake. Forget that bland, pale stuff in tartan packages piled high on the sale table by mid-December. Real shortbread is a wonder that first charms you with it’s light crumbly texture and then stops you dead in your tracks with its deep buttery flavor. While it’s baking, the aroma makes it impossible to concentrate on anything else. Plain shortbread is like a very good vanilla ice cream: sublime and satisfying, complete on its own and yet great to pair with other delicious things. But plain is just for beginners. You can be creative – add nuts, herbs, seeds, spices, citrus zest, honey, chocolate, all of the above –with very little risk of failure– and create original, sophisticated flavors.
And it’s dead easy. A batch of shortbread comes together is less than 10 minutes and then bakes for around 40-50 more, depending not on the humidity, barometric pressure and phase of the moon, but on how crisp and brown you like it. You can make it when you’re rushed, tired, chatting with a friend or wrangling a toddler, and it’ll always be good.
What follows is a basic recipe and some of my personal favorite variations. But, please, don’t follow the instructions too precisely. Improvise.
Recipes
Classic Shortbread
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks), chilled
2/3 cup sugar
1 generous teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Dump all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor, fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse to combine. Cut the butter into small chunks and lay them on top of the dry mixture. (I cut each stick lengthwise first and then slice across about every inch.)
Pulse until the mixture looks like damp sand and just begins to clump together. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this in a bowl with a pastry blender or a dinner fork.)
Press into an ungreased square or round 8-inch baking pan, prick the surface all over with a fork and bake for 40-50 minutes. Cut into squares, bars, wedges (or whatever) while still warm, and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving
Toasted Walnut and Cumin Shortbread
The flavor here is deep and rich, with a smoky undertone. The single malt Scotch of shortbread. The toasted cumin gives the walnut flavor a little edge, but not too much, as raw cumin would. These are as delicious with red wine or port and a rich cheese as they are with coffee and ice cream.
Dessert idea: Grilled peaches with Toasted Walnut and Cumin Shortbread and sweetened creme fraiche (pictured at the top of this post).
Recipe
To the Classic Shortbread recipe, add:
1/2 cup walnut pieces
2 teaspoons cumin seed, and
reduce sugar to 1/2 cup
Over medium heat, toast the walnuts in a heavy skillet or frying pan until they begin to brown, stirring frequently. Transfer to a plate to cool. Add the cumin seed to the pan and toast, stirring frequently, until they just begin to smoke. Transfer to a plate to cool briefly, and then to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Grind finely, and then add 1 teaspoon of the fragrant spice, along with the cooled walnuts, to the dry ingredients. (You’ll have some left over, but very small amounts of spice are difficult to grind.) Pulse until the consistency is more or less even, and then add the butter and continue as above.
Note: small, inexpensive (usually less than $25) coffee grinders are great for grinding spices –just don’t use them for coffee afterward as the spice flavor lingers, even after careful cleaning.
Spiced Orange Shortbread
Dessert in Morocco is often a plate sliced oranges dusted with cinnamon and sprinkled with orange flower water. I’ll admit the first time I was presented with this, I was a little disappointed. But when the cinnamon is freshly ground and the oranges are super ripe, the effect is memorable. In the recipe below, you could get by without the orange flower water if you can’t find it, but please grind the cinnamon sticks yourself – you’ll never go back to the maroon sawdust again. I love to eat these with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate sauce (pictured above). Or with my afternoon coffee. Or with my morning coffee. Or with a glass of Sauternes as a little dessert.
Recipe
To the Classic recipe, add
1 generous teaspoon of ground cinnamon stick
the finely grated zest of one orange
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 teaspoon of orange flower water (available at Beverages and More, www.bevmo.com and specialty grocery and liquor stores.)
Add the spices to the dry ingredients and the orange flower water with the butter. Otherwise, proceed as with the Classic recipe. To heat things up a little, add ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the mix.
Lime Pepper Shortbread
This isn’t a trendy “sweet/hot” dessert: here the pepper just gives the lime flavor some backbone and saves it from being thin and cloying, which is a risk with lime flavored sweets (think bad Margarita). Excellent on its own, and lovely with fresh berries and vanilla ice cream. Sort of a deconstructed tart. . . .
Recipe
To the Classic recipe, add
the finely grated zest of two limes
1 1/2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Add the above with the dry ingredients and otherwise proceed as with the Classic recipe.
Rosemary Shortbread
So simple, but so special. These are cookies for adults and pair as well with coffee as with a glass of wine and a bit of cheese.
Recipe
To the Classic recipe, add
1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves with the dry ingredients and proceed as above.
