Lemon Curd Shortbread - Tea Time Favourite

Shortbread is a universally popular biscuit, not just in Scotland, where it originated before the middle ages, but also in England, Europe and of course Australia.

Everyone needs a good shortbread recipe in their repertoire, and after many experiments, I can declare that this is my favourite…it's as light as air, delivers great crunch and can be altered in any way that takes your fancy by changing the centre - in the shot above it's tart and tangy lemon curd, but here it is with chocolate ganache:

It's simple to make, requires only a few pantry ingredients, and keeps really well - what's not to love?

And if you're wondering…the term 'short' in a baking context indicates that the recipe has a high proportion of fat to flour; that's certainly the case here…so make sure you use good quality, fresh butter...

For the shortbread

175g plain flour

90g pure icing sugar

60g ground almonds

25g cornflour

250g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Method

For the shortbread, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.

Using a stand mixture fitted with the paddle blade, mix the flour, icing sugar, ground almonds and cornflour together into the bowl. Add the butter into the dry ingredients and mix until the mixture comes together as a dough.

Divide the dough into 24 small, equal-sized balls (I use a small ice cream scoop) and press one into each well of a 24-hole macaron tray or mini muffin pan (or two 12-hole ones).

Bake the shortbreads in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until pale golden-brown.

Remove the shortbread from the oven and, when cool enough to handle but still malleable, make a small dent in the centre of each with your finger.

Fill the indentation with ganache, jam or a filling of your choice. Store in an airtight container and consume within 3 days - if you can wait that long!