Category: Shortbread

Shortbread Crust

2/1/2021

This was originally a part of the super-lemony lemon tart, but I broke it out into its own recipe because I ended up using it for several other things, such as the other tart-tasting sweet, the cranberry tart. This ended up such a simple, reliable recipe that it's now my go-to substitution for quite a lot of things!

8" square pan or 9" round pan
½ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350F. If the pan does NOT have a removable bottom, line it with foil (it will help you lift the finished dessert out). If the pan DOES have a removable bottom, butter the bottom and sides.
Melt the butter and whisk in sugar and salt. Sift and mix in the flour.
Press into a ¼” thick layer at the bottom of the prepared pan (you can make it curl slightly up the sides to help keep the filling/topping from sticking too much to the sides) and bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown (this is a little crispier than normal shortbread cookies). Take out and set on a cooling rack. Prick the surface lightly all over with a fork - only halfway through the shortbread, not all the way through. This will help the filling to “stick”.

0 Comments

Cranberry Tart

2/1/2021

0 Comments

If you love tart desserts but are tired of always defaulting to lemon-based sweets, this cranberry tart is perfect. While the original recipe called for a nut-based crust, it seemed too finicky and the reviews seemed to indicate a bit of trouble getting it just right ... so I just subbed in the shortbread crust from the extremely lemony lemon bars which worked absolutely beautifully.

one portion of shortbread crust
12 ounces (340 grams) cranberries
1 cup (225 grams) sugar
Peel (orange part only) and juice of 1 orange (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp corn starch
8 tbsp (113 grams) room temperature butter, cubed
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs)

Make the shortbread crust.
While the crust bakes and cools, make the cranberry curd: Put cranberries, sugar and orange juice and peel in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until cranberries have popped and softened, about 10 minutes (do not let the mixture cook down - you will want enough to cover the entire surface of the crust).
For the most vibrant color, purée the cooked cranberry and orange mixture with an immersion blender or in a food processor or blender. Press the resultant puree through a fine-mesh sieve. (This should yield 1 - 1.5 cups of liquid if it wasn't cooked down too much.)
Put eggs and egg yolks into a bowl and beat lightly. Slowly whisk a cup of warm cranberry liquid into the eggs to temper, then combine both and whisk together. Add corn starch and whisk well. Wipe out pot if necessary, return liquid to pot and cook over low heat until nearly bubbling and thickened, about 10 minutes. Whisk the butter into the warm liquid one cube at a time, making sure each cube combines completely before adding the next one.
If using immediately, let cool to room temperature. If working ahead, cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap (press wrap against curd) and refrigerate. (Curd may be cooked up to 1 day ahead.)
Pour cooled cranberry curd into the cooled prebaked tart shell and smooth top with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to set curd. Cool on a rack. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Notes: It's recommended that you do not pour the curd into the crust until the day of serving. Otherwise, the curd might make the crust soggy. For a 12" tart, you may double the filling amount.

0 Comments

Lemon Bars

11/27/2020

0 Comments

This started out as an experiment as I had read a Cook's Illustrated article on how to make an intensely lemon-y lemon bar without the fillers starting to get in the way. It's a tough balance between the liquid - the lemon juice - and the dry ingredients - the flour - because you can't really increase one without increasing the other. Adding more lemon means it becomes a runny mess unless you add more flour, but adding more flour simply cuts into the lemony taste.

Unfortunately, I've since lost the link to the Cook's Illustrated article, but it talked about a secret ingredient - cream of tartar. And from its detailed descriptions, I worked backwards from a standard lemon bar recipe and reconstructed the following for a crisp, crunchy shortbread topped with a truly lemony curd.

one portion of shortbread crust
⅔ cup lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
3 eggs + 3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp zest
2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp butter, cut into four 1 tbsp chunks

Make one portion of the shortbread crust.
While the shortbread is cooling, combine all filling ingredients except the butter in a double boiler over medium heat. Continuously whisk while the double boiler is simmering, until the mixture has thickened to about a custard consistency, with faint trails left behind by the whisk.
Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk in the butter one tbsp at a time, mixing until all the butter has been incorporated. Strain through a sieve into a clean bowl.
Pour over the shortbread crust in about a ½” thick layer and return to the oven for about 10 minutes. The filling should have only the slightest wobble to it when you shake it.
Let cool completely, remove from pan, then cut into rectangular pieces.

0 Comments

Shortbread Lemon Tart Recipe

3/26/2020

0 Comments

Beautifully lemony, I found this recipe here. Even better, it achieves the easy-peasy rating because you literally throw all the ingredients into a blender and a food processor and you're done! Per usual, I've adjusted the sugar levels a bit - not only do I usually apportion only 1 cup of sugar for something cake-sized these days, but I felt it really lets the brightness of the lemon shine through.

Lemon Filling:

4 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/3 cup butter, melted
powdered sugar, for topping

Shortbread Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
In a blender, combine the eggs, lemon juice, granulated sugar, lemon zest and orange zest. Process on high until smooth. Add the butter, replace the cover, and blend again on high until smooth. Set aside.
In a food processor, combine the flour and powdered sugar. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and continue to pulse until the mixture looks sandy and the butter is fully incorporated into the flour and sugar.
Place an 11-inch tart pan on a baking sheet. Pour the crust mixture into the pan. Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (You can use the bottom of a cup to help press the crust more evenly on the bottom of the pan.)
Pour the filing into the crust, then transfer the tart into the oven. Bake until the center is almost set, 30-35 minutes.
Cool the tart completely. When ready to serve, sprinkle powdered sugar over the top and cut into slices.

0 Comments

ARCHIVE: Breton Shortbread Cookies or Tart Crust (from The French Market Cookbook)

1/1/2015

0 Comments

1/2 cup/70g unrefined blond sugar (also sold as evaporated cane juice) or caster sugar
6 tbsp/85g high quality unsalted butter, softened
1 small fresh vanilla bean or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large organic egg
1 cup/130g all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. (Alternatively, do this by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon.) Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a sharp knife, scrape the seeds from the inside of the bean with the dull side of the blade, and add them to the sugar and butter. Beat the sugar and butter at low speed until pale an fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat for 2 minutes.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stirring with a whisk to remove any lumps. add to the mixer and mix at low speed for a few seconds, just until no trace of flour remains. The dough will be quite soft.
Transfer the dough to a container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350F/175C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 1/3 in / 8mm. Peel off the top sheet gently and use a round cookie cutter, about 2 in /5cm in diameter, to cut out circles of dough.
Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, giving them a little room to expand.
Gather the scraps of dough and repeat to cut out more cookies. As the dough warms to room temperature, it may become to soft to work with; place it in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up before cutting out circles again.
Bake the sables until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
Transfer to a rack to cool completely. The sables will keep for a few days in an airtight container at room temperature.

0 Comments

Shortbread Crust

Cranberry Tart

Lemon Bars

Shortbread Lemon Tart Recipe

ARCHIVE: Breton Shortbread Cookies or Tart Crust (from The French Market Cookbook)

Sweet Enough

Categories

Archives