From: claudiak@spider.co.uk (Claudia Kale)
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Subject: Re: English Shortbread
Date: 23 Jul 92 08:49:56 GMT
Organization: Spider Systems Limited, Edinburgh, UK.

In article <22JUL199211204332@vxcrna.cern.ch> veitch@vxcrna.cern.ch (Liz Veitch) writes:
>In article <1992Jul20.204928.22670@slustl.slu.edu>, guy@slustl.slu.edu (Guy Smith) writes...
>>In article <20JUL199211464778@vxcrna.cern.ch> veitch@vxcrna.cern.ch (Liz Veitch) writes:
>
>>>Quite so!  Shortbread is a Scottish speciality.
>>>
>>>I don't carry the recipe in my head, but it is simply butter, sugar and
>>>flour, which should be half wheat and half rice flour.  It's the 
>>>rice flour that gives real shortbread the crunchy nutty texture and 
>>>taste - otherwise it's just like an ordinary biscuit.
>
>>My family recipe, which derives from Scotland, uses only wheat flour.
>>I'm not sure when it was brought over or from what part of Scotland.
>>Are we into the lowlands vs highlands battle here:-).
>
>No, I don't think so ... just whether you want shortbread that tastes
>REALLY good, or shortbread that's just ok.  Try it and see :-)
>
>Liz

OK. I feel compelled to jump in at this point. The following is lifted
(without permission) from Catherine Brown's _Scottish Cookery_ (1989)
Cox and Wyman, Britain:

"Six, four, two," the teacher said, "six ounces of flour, four of 
butter and two of sugar." This was my first lesson in making shortbread
and the numbers are indelibly printed on my mind whenever I think of
it. I also remember the method she taught us - it was very simple.
First, the butter was put on a board and the sugar on top. The flour
was sifted into one corner. With our hands, we kneaded th sugar into the
butter and then gradually started adding the flour, and the dough grew
satisfyingly in size. We learnt to judge the consistency. Pliable
without being too soft, firm but not too crumbly and we stopped adding
the flour when the right consistency was reached, or added more if
needed.
   Feeling the "life" of a dough is something which bakers will tell
you only an experienced hand can judge. No recipe is a foolproof guide,
especially when using things like flour and butter which both have
varying degrees of absorbency depending on their moisture content.
This delicate balance between the right and wrong consistency so affects
the finished result that I'm glad we were encouraged to get our hands
into things at an age when habits were formed."

"Flour
    A soft white flour with a low gluten content is best. If a strong
    flour (me: like bread flour) is used the dough witll be tough and
    the baked shortbread hard. A soft fine wholemeal (me: wholewheat)
    may be used in a mixture with the white but it does have a stronger
    flavour and the butter flavour maynot come through so well. Some
    use a little rice flour for a crunchier result while others claim
    that a little cornflour (me: cornstarch) improves the shortbread.
    A little of both is also used.

Sugar
   Caster sugar (me: superfine sugar) gives the best result though some
   icing sugar (me: confectioner's sugar) may be used for a finer result.
   Brown sugars tend to dominate flavourwise and spoil the natural flavour
   of the butter.

Butter
   This is the main flavouring and shortening agent which gives distinction
   to shortbread - the finished result will be judged by the quality of
   the butter used. It should have a low water content."

The (me:) interjections in the text are simultaneous translations for those
who cook in transAtlantic mode. About the shaping and baking, she goes on:

"Roll out the dough into a round or cut into fingers or fancy shapes.
The thickness is a matter of taste but thicker will take longer to bake.
The above quantity may be pressed into a swiss roll tin (7"x11") and
then cut into fingers. If using a special shortbread mould, flour it well
then knock out the excess flour and press in the dough. Level off using
a rolling pin and knock out the round (me: tap the dough out of the mould).
It can also be rolled into a cylinder shape in either granualted or 
demerara (me: granulated brown sugar - don't try this with ordinary brown)
sugar and then put in the refrigerator before slicing into round biscuits.
Before baking, all shortbread should be pricked all over with a fork
(docked) to let the steam escape evenly and avoid it distorting the shape.

Shortbread should be baked slowly to develop the rich butter taste. It
should be evenly baked to a light golden colour throughout the whole
biscuit. If the temperature is too low it will have an undesirable
greyish colour inside while if it is too high then it will have a "bone"
in the centre. Place in the bottom half of the oven: thick shortbread
can take up to an hour in a 300F/150C/gas mark 2 oven. About five
minutes before it is ready, remove from the oven and dust lightly with
caster sugar (me: superfine sugar). The sugar will stick to the hot
surface much better if done at this stage, though it is not essential
that they should be dusted with sugar at all."