Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Baaaaaaaaa! Moooooooooo! Oinkkkkkkk!



Shortbread Wedges
Martha Stewart Living Cookbook Copyright 2000

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pans
1 cup packed light brown sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

I quartered the recipe and made it in my farm animal pan.

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F with a rack in the center. Butter 3 8-inch springform pans. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium high until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, salt and vanilla and mix, beginning on low speed and increasing to medium, until the flour is just combined.
2. Divide the dough evenly among the prepared pans. Using a spatula, spread the dough out to the edges, making sure the tops are smooth and level.
3. Light score the dough in each pan into 12 equal wedges. Prick a pattern into each wedge with the tines of a fork. Bake until shortbread is dry and barely golden, about 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Using a sharp knife, follow the score marks to cut into neat wedges. Remove from pans. Shortbread may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Makes 3-dozen.

I've never made shortbread before but I knew that in order to get the best results from my farm animal pan I should use a shortbread recipe. I just grabbed the first one I found. I quartered this recipe and it seemed to turn out well. My shortbread experience is basically limited to eating Lorna Doones every now and then so I'm ill-equipped to judge this in relation to other shortbreads but these weren't bad at all. They were cute too. Next time I'll try a recipe that uses some cake flour since I've heard that makes a difference.

I finally made something from Martha Stewart's Living Cookbook! I've had this cookbook for over six months so it's about time.

Question of the Day: How often do you bake some kind of sweet (cake, cookies, etc)?

3 comments:

  1. You might want to try subbing a bit of the flour for cornstarch as well, that changes the texture a bit and makes them very rich. But remember to let them cool before eating, warm shortbread isn't nearly as good for some strange reason.

    Cute animals!

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  2. Anonymous12:10 PM

    Answer to your informal poll:
    I make sweet stuff about once a month since hubby and I don't need to eat an entire sweet thing alone.

    =)

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  3. Congrats on the cookies from Miss Martha!

    I am no baker. Fairly skilled novice chef, yes! Baker? Let's just say some of my worst life moments involve a springfoam pan and butter...

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