Shortbreads

Moulded Shortbread, Petticoat Tails or Shortbread Fingers: take your pick! "Whether moulded as rounds or shaped as petticoat tails or fingers, the crumbly buttery texture of shortbread guarantees it is welcome at any morning or afternoon tea" or served with some desserts such as my Passionfruit Flummery, Fresh Fruit Fool or Soft Fruit Fool. I have posted this recipe to accompany those three recipes. All have been posted for the 2005 Zaar World Tour, and have been adapted from recipes in the Australian publication by Reader's Digest of a book jam-packed with traditional Australian recipes: 'Family Recipe Scrapbook: tried and trusted recipes for today's cooks'.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Yields: 2 18-20cm moulded shortbreads, 16 petticoat shortbre

Ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups plain flour
• 1⁄2 cup caster sugar
• 1⁄3 cup  rice flour or 1⁄3 cup fine semolina
• 250  g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
•  caster sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Sift the flour, caster sugar and rice flour or semolina into a mixing bowl, add the cubed butter and rub it with your fingertips until the mixture clings together in heavy lumps. Gather the dough into a ball and then knead it on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Proceed according to how you want the finished shortbread to be shaped.
2. Moulded Shortbread: Lightly sprinkle an 18-20cm diameter shortbread mould with flour, cut the dough in half, roll out each piece to a round, a little smaller than the mould and press, smooth side down, into the mould to fir it exactly. Carefully turn the dough out onto a flat baking tray. The mixture can also be shaped in small moulds to produce biscuit-sized shortbreads.
3. Petticoat Tails: Cut the dough in half and roll out onto two rounds each 18-20cm in diametre. Flute the edges with your fingers, then prick them all over with a fork. Alternatively, fir the two rounds into two fluted tins and prick well.
4. Shortbread Fingers: Press the dough into a shallow, 28x18 cm tin, smooth with a palette knife, then prick weell with a fork.
5. Having prepared the dough according to the shape chosen, chill it in the refrigerator for 1 hour and pre-heat the oven to 160ºC. Bake the moulded shortbread and petticoat tails for 20-25 minutes and fingers for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through but not browned.
6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool and firm up for 5 minutes. Loosen the moulded shortbread and petticoat tails from the baking tray with a palette knife. Mark the petticoat tails into triangles. Cut the fingers into 20 equal pieces while still in the tin. Sprinkle generously with caster sugar.
7. After 15 minutes, transfer the petticoat tails and moulded shortbread to wire racks to cool completely. Leave the shortbread fingers in the tin until cold.
8. The shortbread will keep well if stored in an airtight container.