CANDIED GINGER & TANGERINE SHORTBREAD

Deeba @ PAB

15 years ago

“I am still convinced that a good, simple, homemade cookie is preferable to all the store-bought cookies one can find.”

James Beard

Mmmmmmmmmm shortbread! Think shortbread – think crisp, think buttery, think an indulgent cookie… Add some crystallised ginger & tangerine peel to it & you give this traditional favourite a delicious twist. Go a step further, dip it into dark chocolate, & you reach dangerously delicious shortbread nirvana! Yes, that is what I did!

It all began with the David Levobitz’s post on candied ginger. I made a whole bunch of it, with candied tangerine peel as well, & have had a great time experimenting with my crystallised ginger & tangerine bits.

With a resource as good & exciting as the net, I googled for recipes & was pleased as punch. I used the crystallised bits in the creme brulee in my Daring Bakers French Yule Log, & on top as well. Then I dived into my cookbook collection, & used some in these delightful Florentines, posted here. Inspired by the charm of crystallised ginger & peel, I decided to give my previously posted orange shortbread a gingery twist.

These were being made for the hubs sweet Japanese colleague Toru San & his wife who were leaving Delhi to go to Chennai. Toru San’s wife, Yoshiko, brought us some more Japanese baked goodies from a specialist patisserie in Japan.

This time they were coinciding with new year. Toru san also asked the gentleman from the patisserie to put in an extra sheet of special wrapping paper for me, because he said he knew how much art form & cultures of different countries intrigue me.

This particular wrapping sheet has a whole story of the new year spun into it…with a kite, wooden tops, paper fans, cherry tree blossoms, a kid’s face etc. The packaging was once again stunningly beautiful, & the insides revealed 2 boxes of exquisite tea cakes. Everything was written in Japanese, but 1 cake was a vanilla/chocolate loaf with gold leaf on top, & the the other was a chocolate loaf with bean paste or some similar filling. Both were very nice, & are specially made by this bakery over the new year.

CRYSTALLISED GINGER & TANGERINE SHORTBREAD

Ingredients:
Butter – 1/2 cup (room temperature)
Castor Sugar – 5 tbsps
Finely chopped candied ginger & tangerine peel – 1/3 cup (+ some for topping if needed)

Flour- 1 1/2 cups
Dark melted chocolate for topping if desired

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Grease 2 baking sheets.
Beat the butter & sugar till creamy & soft.I do this by hand.
Mix in the candied fruit well. (I do this too by hand & don’t use the mixer at all for this recipe).
Gradually add the flour and gently pull the dough in together to form a soft ball. Chill for an hour.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/2 ” thickness.
Put on the baking sheet, light golden brown.
Remove to a cookie rack to cool. Dip into melted chocolate, sprinkle the cut fruit immediately & leave to set.
Makes about 2-3 dozen 3″ cookies.

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