When I moved in with my other half I had to make the
sacrifice of leaving behind all of my baking equipment until I am able to
return and collect it in the next couple months, which for someone like me who
loves to bake this has been rather distressing as I’ve gone nearly 2 months now
without making some kind of sweet treat for us to enjoy.
Today I decided to use all the tools at my disposal to try
and attempt baking with only a uni students basic cooking equipment I thought I would go with something easy like shortbread as
its 3 basic ingredients mixed together to create an amazing little treat plus I
had all of the ingredients ready to go without having to get changed out of
pyjamas which is always a plus!
The recipe that I used for shortbread is slightly sweeter
than the method that I’ve been taught …purely because I have a dirty sweet
tooth no other reason! So feel free if you use this recipe to use about 20-30
grams of sugar less for more “standard” shortbread.
Now while his kitchen is full of useful items it has a
severe lack of baking equipment which means no scales, baking tins, greaseproof
paper, rolling pin etc. Which has presented me with a bit of a problem….how the
hell am I supposed to bake in here?! Luckily for me after a quick rummage
through the cupboards I found a measuring jug which has grams measurements for
both flour and sugar which is a start!
For the margarine measurements I simply had to do it by eye
and instinct so hopefully it all works out! And finally for my baking tin I
ended up using a small square glass roasting dish, what’s the worst that could
happen? Lol!
To begin with I measured out my sugar and margarine and
placed the ingredients into my mixing bowl before using a spoon to cream the
two together until the mixture has lightened up a smidge, I ended up with a
light sugary paste like so:
I then slowly add in one tablespoon of flour at a time then
mixing until all flour is incorporated into the mixture, I was left with quite
a runny mixture as you can see in the picture below:
To fix this I simply added in more flour, one tablespoon at
a time until my mixture started to form a dough like texture and stayed in a
ball shape like so:
I then lightly greased my totally legitimate baking tin/dish
before pressing my mixture into it until the dough reached the edges and was
completely level; now just to pop it in the oven!
I baked my shortbread for 15-20 minutes until they came out
slightly golden around the edges and with a slightly spring to the middle
before leaving it on the side to cool.
After the shortbread had cooled I ran a knife around the
edges just to loosen it up a little before tipping out the shortbread onto a
plate to finish cooling then cutting it into little fingers and dusting with a
little sugar to finish.
Note: this for me is just the way I like my shortbread,
however if you would like them firmer (mine tend to be fairly soft) I would
suggest adding a few more tablespoons of flour to make a slightly firmer mixture for a more crumbly texture.
Shortbread
Recipe
Things you will need:
-
200g of Plain flour
-
150g of Margarine
-
100g of Sugar
Step 1: Start by preheating your oven to roughly 180C
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon (or
whatever you have to hand!) to mix together the sugar and margarine until it
forms a paste, continue mixing for another few minutes until it lightens in
colour and texture.
Step 3: Add in 1
tablespoon of flour at a time and fully combine before adding the next,
continue doing this until all flour has been added, if the mixture seems too
runny or sticky then feel free to add more flour until it forms a rough dough.
Step 4: Grease your baking tin (or whatever you have handy
which is oven safe) and tip your dough into the tin, use your hands or the back
of a spoon to press the dough down to fill the entire tin, make sure it’s level
so it bakes evenly!
Step 5: Place your shortbread into your now hot oven and
bake for between 15-20 minutes or until it is slightly golden on top, remove
and leave to cool.
Step 6: Once completely cool, cut your shortbread into
fingers and sprinkle with a little sugar as a finishing tough, now enjoy with a
nice hot cup of tea!
And there you go! Turned out not to be as difficult as I thought plus they turned out really tasty to boot! the result = my sugar cravings are taken care of and I have a happy man too!
Please feel free to leave a comment below telling me your favourite thing to bake/sweet treat to eat!
No comments:
Post a Comment