Civic Consciousness

I have been going to the library very often these days. To my delight, I find quite a few baking books that I wanted to read. Of course, I would love to buy every baking book that catches my interest at Amazon.com even if it is just to keep. In reality, it is not quite possible. Also, I am not someone who would try every single recipe in a book, so its kinda waste to buy the books and leave them lying around. I am not proud to admit that I have such books at home collecting dust now…. Anyway, back to these library books. Every now and then, I find some of the pages ripped out from the books. So lazy are these people, who can’t be bothered to copy the recipes. So selfish are these people, who took away the chance of others to read the books properly. Library books are for the community to share. Please. Be civic conscious. How would you like it if I rip a page off your newspaper every morning? It is as good as stealing, no?  

I made some shortbread today. It is one of the easiest recipe I ever tried, with minimal ingredients and took about 20 minutes to put together. I was abit sceptical about the baking temperature and time needed. It was stated to bake at 150C (300F) for 45 minutes, let it cool for 10 minutes and then back to the oven for another 15 minutes. When I took the shortbread out after 45 minutes, it was still pretty soft. As expected, another 15 minutes in the oven did not help matters. In the end, I up the temperature to 160C (320F) and let it bake for another 20 minutes more. The shortbread turned out slightly browned, nice and crisp. Just the way I like it. It wasn’t too buttery, despite having 1 1/2 sticks of butter in it. I used a six-inch tart mould with a removable bottom. You can also use an 8-inch square tray.

Twice-Baked Shortbread
(Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Pure Desserts)

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, melted and still warm
4 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces) all-purpose flour
Turbinado, Demerara or granulated sugar for sprinkling

If using a pan with a removable bottom, grease the pan; if using the one-piece 8-inch pan, line it with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

1. In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter with the sugar, vanilla of your choice, and salt. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated. Pat and spread the dough evenly in the pan. Let rest for at least 2 hours, or overnight (no need to refrigerate).

2. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 150C (300F).

3. Bake the shortbread for 45 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from the oven, leaving the oven on. Turn the temperature up to 160C (320F). Lightly sprinkle the surface of the shortbread with sugar. Let the shortbread cool for 10 minutes.

5. Remove the shortbread from the pan, being careful to avoid breaking it. Use a thin sharp knife to cut it into desired shapes. Place the pieces slightly apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put in the oven for 15 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

I wish it snows here. I wish I can experience 4 seasons here. In fact, I have never seen snow in my life. So you peeps out there who wakes up with snow in your backyard… Be grateful. Though I can brag that I can get a nice tan any time of the year  I am happy to say that my icebox cookies received pretty rave reviews from mom’s friend. She commissioned me to make another bottle for her. With Christmas just round the corner, I decided to make more cookies for my relatives as gifts. Although we don’t celebrate christmas, no one will resist homemade cookies ya?

The pecan shortbread cookies were delicious. I added a heaped 1/2 cup worth of ground pecan so they really shine through in the shortbread. Word of caution, the dough is really soft and spread quite abit in the oven, so do chill the dough thoroughly. I blame it on the stifling hot and humid weather here in Singapore I omitted the cloves and thought they taste just fine without them. The honey refrigerator cookie recipe is from Gourmet, one of the 68 cookie recipes feature this christmas. This is the first time I am working with shortening and find it a little strange. Firstly, it has no smell. Though the texture is similar to that of margarine and butter. The (white) color of the shortening is a little disconcerting to me as well. Nevertheless, the recipe turned out pretty good too. I may replace the shortening with butter next time to see if it works as well. The nut I used was chopped almonds. Which brings me to the matter that I am in love with my new food processor. It is such a dream to use. Definitely beats chopping those nuts up by hand. I won’t be adding the recipe for the honey cookies, but you can find it here.

Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread

(Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s  ‘Baking From My Home To Yours’)

1½ cups plain flour

½ cup or cornflour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter,room temperature

2/3 cup light brown sugar

½ heaped cup finely ground pecans

1. Sift together the flour, rice flour, salt and cloves.

2. Beat the butter and sugr using a hand-held mixer or freestanding mixer on medium speed for around 3 minutes or  until very smooth. Reduce the speed to low and add dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the pecans and give the mixer a couple of turns, just to mix the nuts through.

3. In between two large pieces of non-stick baking paper, roll the dough out to an approximately 24 x 28cm rectangle that’s 1.5cm thick. Place the dough in the fridge for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.

4. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Using a ruler and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 4cm squares. Transfer the squares to the prepared baking trays and prick each square twice with the tines of a fork. Sprinkle some raw sugar over each dough square. Place these two trays in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Position the oven racks to divide the oven into thirds.

5. Bake the biscuits for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point.