A Taste of Scotland to Bake at Home

After five days visiting Scottish boarding schools, two things became a familiar part of our journey: countless cups of tea and, of course, shortbread. There was hardly a meeting room, staff room or Headmaster’s office without a plate of the famous buttery biscuits waiting on the table. If you’d like to bring a little taste of Scotland into your own kitchen, here’s a traditional recipe.

Traditional Scottish Shortbread

Ingredients

• 250 g butter (room temperature – real butter is essential)
• 125 g caster sugar
• 375 g plain flour
• 125 g rice flour (if you can’t find rice flour, simply use a total of 500 g plain flour instead. Rice flour, however, gives shortbread its wonderfully delicate, crumbly texture.)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160°C (conventional oven).
• Beat the butter and sugar together for several minutes until light and creamy.
• Mix the plain flour and rice flour, then gently fold them into the butter mixture. Avoid overworking the dough – it should only just come together.
• Roll the dough out to about 1.5 cm thick or press it directly into a round baking tin.
• Prick the surface several times with a fork.

Traditionally, shortbread is baked in one of three classic shapes:

• Shortbread Round (a large round)
• Petticoat Tails (triangular wedges)
• Shortbread Fingers (rectangular fingers)

Bake for 35–45 minutes. The shortbread should remain very pale, taking on only the slightest hint of colour.
While still warm, sprinkle lightly with caster sugar and leave to cool completely.

Good shortbread should never be crisp like a biscuit. Instead, it should be tender, delicate and wonderfully crumbly. That’s why it’s baked slowly at a relatively low temperature.