Monday, September 27, 2010

It's been so long!

I'm a slacker...
Well not completely
Ya' see I normally do this at night at work when I have nothing to do,
but I have actually had tons of work to do, due to lots of crazy things.
But I am back now
so it's all good!

So today I am going to write about one of the most simple yet wonderful things ever!
(and some ways to jazz it up)
SHORTBREAD!
or more specifically:
Scottish Shortbread

(I LOVE PLAID)


So it's best to make this wearing plaid!
And listening to Joanna Newsom
(not relevant at all but so good)
and drinking...
Whiskey...duh!

So let's get started!
This is the easiest thing ever to make!

you'll need:
1 and 1/2 sticks of butter softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 and 1/2 cups flour
easy easy right!

Basically pre-heat your oven to 300. throw everything into your mixer until it moist crumbs...yes crumbs!
Then, in a greased pie pan (I like the pie pan best) or 8x8 baking dish pat the dough it should be no more than 1 inch thick, make patterns in the top with a fork or with a cookie cutter (press the cookie cutter lightly into the top, don't push all the way down just enough to make an imprint)
Then bake! For about 40-50 minutes (the edges should be light brown, and the middle soft to the touch but not doughy), cut into wedges or bars and TA-DA!
So easy right!

Now a few ways to jazz it up!

There is the very basic sprinkling cinnamon sugar over the top, very basic but totally yummy.

Chocolate dipped shortbread its a totally fantastic treat, it looks fancy and is easy:
I like to use dark chocolate, but you can use milk if you'd rather, I would not recommend white!
Double boil the chocolate to melt it, then take your wedges or bars and dip then into the chocolate, use a butter knife to wipe the extra chocolate off the bottom, then place the pieces spread out on a baking sheet cover with parchment paper, and refrigerate until the chocolate is hardened. Serve on a plate with orange wedges and strawberries, perfect for tea time!

Honey almond shortbread is another perfect tea time treat, perfect for days like today, that are gloomy and rainy, with Earl gray tea and oranges!
So all you need to do for this is, about 5 minutes before your short bread is done baking pull it out drizzle it with honey and sprinkle with almond slivers, continue baking 5 or so minutes, let it cool a bit cut and serve!

2 more...

Warm whiskey sauce is a great way to fancy anything up! it involves a little effort but it's worth it, so you'll need:
4 tbs butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
2 tbs whiskey (or a little more and I like Bourbon whiskey best...but it is sweet.)
Cream the butter and sugar together, blend in the egg, then double boil the mixture over gently boiling water, still until it thickens. Remove from heat then stir in the whiskey.
Spoon the warm sauce over your shortbread and serve!

And last but not least

Shortbread with warm berry sauce almode! So remember the blueberry dunking sauce we used for the Brunch?! No well here's the link because I am not retyping it! HA!
Sauce
Just whip up some of that, (I like to have some on hand in the fridge). Put 2 scoops of ice cream in a bowl (french vanilla is awesome!) add 2 slices of short bread (artfully arranged) and then spoon the sauce on top, and enjoy!!

so that's all for today
Thanks&junk
kj.






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