Shortbread like Ena Baxter made it

When I started blogging back in 2007 I was having a lovely time  experimenting with new flavours and ideas.  It was only later I realised that I had forgotten to include the basics.  I just took them for granted.  Perhaps that is why I have posted a recipe for dark chocolate and cranberry shorrtbread and spiced chocolate shortbread but until today I have not posted a basic shortbread recipe. 

It might also be that I find regular shortbread to be quite dull.  Maybe it was not always so.  I blame my current disdain for shortbread on the months I spent working in a quiet office in Edinburgh.  Most of my days there were spent gossiping and raiding the stocks of Walkers shortbread.  However, I live with E who loves it with a passion that betrays his Scottish upbringing.  Our little girl loves shortbread too. 

Now bring in my sister in law HH who lives in Edinburgh and is thoughtful and generous at choosing presents.  A few years back she sent me this present pack.  A book of baking recipes, a woollen rose and Ena Baxter's Scottish Cookbook.  I particularly loved the cookbook as it was one that belonged to E's mum.  Ena Baxter is one of the famous Baxters family that make lovely soups and preserves.  I was lucky enough to visit Fochabers in Scotland where their main factory is.  Sadly it was too snowy to visit their Highland Village

The cookbook is full of traditional recipes.  Most of the dinner recipes are meat.  I have spent more time looking at the baking chapters.  It is written for women who are skilled in the art of baking and don't need precision when it comes to cake tins, amounts of ingredients or baking times.  I consider myself a competent cook and yet I find this sort of recipe challenging.  I have tried the treacle scones once or twice and not got the (unspecified) amount of milk right.

Earlier this year I tried Ena Baxter's shortbread.  The recipe didn't give a size of tin or nor the time to bake it.  I had to try it twice to feel like I had it right.  The first time I didn't fill the whole of the lamington tin because it seemed too thin.  The shortbread was golden brown around the edges but in the middle it was too pale, dense and soft rather than sandy and crumbly.

Don't get me wrong.  It was edible.  Which was just as well.  I had made it for a school lunch on Harmony Day.  This is a day for children to wear their national dress and bring food from their family's country.  Sylvia wore a tartan skirt and a t-shirt with the Scottish saltire on it.  I had to pin them to fit with a safety pin or two.

It surprised me that Sylvia did not know what a safety pin was.  I grew up helping changing my siblings' cloth nappies that were held together with safety pins.  I guess they just don't feel safe enough for kids any more.  Well I guess I did stick the safety pin into them occasionally.  Oops!

Incidentally I was quite surprised at an article in The Age newspaper on racism damaging children recently which said that one-off multicultural events "can do more harm than good and reinforce rather than challenge negative attitudes and beliefs".  I wonder how this plays out at Sylvia's school where there is a lot of diversity in the children's backgrounds.  Today I heard about a nutrition presentation at the school where a child asked if the puppet presenter was fasting for Ramadan.

But I digress.  Back to the shortbread.  I tried again.  This time I spread it thinner, cooked it until I knew the colour seemed more evenly golden brown.  It was much better.  Cooked right through.  Sandy and crumble.  Sylvia had been a bit wary about the first batch but gobbled up the second.  And I think Ena would have been pleased that I am learning not just by cookbooks but also by learning from doing.

E's mother would also be delighted that I am using her cookbook to feed her son and granddaughter (and myself) a traditional biscuit that has been eaten for many generations in Scotland.  So while plain old shortbread is not my favourite thing to eat, it is embedded in our family and can make me feel quite sentimental  Which is a good reminder of why the simple foods are sometimes the most important to us.

I am sending this to Cates Cates for the Christmas in July theme this month for Anyone Can Cook Vegetarian Food.  While shortbread can be enjoyed all year round, it is also a traditional festive treat and great for gifts..

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Carrot dinner rolls
Two years ago: RRC Show us your Cookbooks
Three years ago: MLLA Chickpea, potato and tomato stew
Four years ago: Syrup cake, shoes and chooks
Five years ago: Pear and Walnut Chutney
Six years ago: Chickpea cutlets and gluten strings
Seven years ago: Mulled Apple Juice for a Midwinter Birthday

Shortbread
From Edna Baxter's Scottish Cookbook
Makes about 54 small squares

250g plain white flour
125g rice flour
125g sugar
250g butter

Preheat oven to 160 C or 325 F.  Line a lamington or swiss roll tray with baking paper (mine is 31 x 24cm).

Use your hands (or pastry cutters) to rub butter into flours and sugar until thoroughly incorporated.  The mixture will be soft lumps.  Tip the mixture into into the prepared tray and use the back of a spoon or your hands to press it down firmly, evenly and flat.  It might seem thin but thin is good.  Mark squares (or fingers) by running a knife through the shortbread dough.  Use a fork to poke holes in each piece.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown.  Cool in the tray and then cut into squares or fingers as marked.

On the Stereo:
White chalk: P J Harvey