Lazy Homemade Shortbread

Buttery and sweet, with just the right amount of resistance before it crumbles in your mouth, this lazy shortbread shaves minutes off the more traditional method. If the word lazy offends you, just call it easy.

We make most traditional shortbread recipes by cutting cold butter into the flour creating a sort of rough and sandy crumble. But years ago, I needed a quick recipe to make big pans of shortbread for a school function and I came across this one using melted butter instead. I have since made homemade shortbread the more traditional way but I must confess that when I’m in a hurry, I go back to this lazy shortbread time and time again.

Shortbread packages up nicely and would make a special gift for Mother's Day, don't you think?

Lazy Shortbread

If you want to change it up a bit, add some orange or lemon zest to the dough and sprinkle the top with orange or lemon sugar or a little more zest.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 cup or 130g cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Slightly rounded ½ cup or 125g caster or fine grain sugar
1⅛ cup or 250g unsalted butter

To decorate the shortbread:
1 egg white, whisked with a teaspoon of water
2-3 tablespoons coarse grain sugar (I love using my lavender sugar here.)
Optional: edible glitter

Method
Line the bottom of a small 8x8in or 20x20cm pan with baking parchment and preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C.

Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in to a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugar and stir to mix.

Gently melt the butter in a small pot over a low heat then pour it into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until it is well combined and you have a soft, buttery dough.

Tip the dough into your prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Use a knife to score the top into 18 equal pieces. Use a fork or a skewer to poke decorative holes in each piece.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the shortbread is begins to brown slightly.
Remove from the oven and brush lightly with the beaten egg white.
Sprinkle the top generously with coarse sugar.

Bake for five more minutes.

Remove from the oven and lightly sprinkle with edible glitter, if using. This is purely for show but I love how it brings out the natural purple in the lavender sugar. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes.

Use a sharp knife to cut the shortbread into pieces where you scored. Leave to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Store in an airtight container once completely cooled. Or wrap some up and give it away!

Enjoy!

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Bolinhos de Bacalhau or Deep-fried Cod Fritters #FishFridayFoodies

These tasty little morsels are called bolinhos de bacalhau in Brazil, where they are a traditional dish and a favorite party food. In English, a literal translation is little cod balls, but deep-fried cod fritters gets the idea across much better.

My first memory of salt cod, that is, cod that has been liberally salted then dried to preserve it, was on a holiday in Portugal. The grocery stores had stacks of salt cod, in bins like we might find a pile of lemons or a display of corn on the cob. I had no idea what to do with such a salty dry ingredient.

It took moving to Brazil to learn several recipes. Since it doesn’t need refrigeration and maintains its nutrients and flavor for several years, salt cod is a staple in many countries. In Brazil, it is often rehydrated and cooked in rich stews or pan-fried with potatoes and served with hard-boiled eggs and olives.

But my favorite recipe is definitely bolinhos de bacalhau, crispy cod fritters made with mashed potato that are deep-fried till crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Bolinhos de Bacalhau or Deep-fried Cod Fritters

Start the preparations for this recipe at least one day before you want to fry your fritters. The salt cod needs to be soaked for a minimum of 24 hours to get rid of the salt and rehydrate the fish.

Ingredients - makes 2 dozen
8 oz or 225g salt cod
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Small bunch parsley, thick stalks discarded, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
(1-2 tablespoons flour)

Canola or other light oil for deep-frying

Method
Put the salt cod in a bowl and cover with fresh cool water. If you live in a warm climate, you can put this bowl in the refrigerator. Very important: Change the water at least four times in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients and refrigerate them until the cod is ready or start the cooking process when the 24 hours is up.

Peel and quarter the potatoes.

Boil in unsalted water until just tender, then mash them with a potato masher or a fork, until there are no lumps. Set aside to cool.

Cut the bones and skin off of the cod and discard. Use the tines of a fork to shred the cod, making sure that you pick out any bones you missed the first time. Use a sharp knife to chop the shredded cod finely.

Sauté the minced onion and garlic until they have softened, in the olive oil over a medium fire. Remove the pan from the stove and mix in the chopped parsley.

Mix the mashed potato and shredded cod with the sautéed onion mixture, the ground peppers and the eggs.

This should be fairly stiff. If need be, add some flour to help it bind. I don’t usually need to add any, but many of the Brazilian recipes suggest that flour may be necessary.

Lay paper towels on top of a wire rack, nearby the stove.

Heat enough oil to cover a 2-tablespoon ball of the mixture (about 2 1/2 in or 6.3cm deep should do it) in a deep fryer or a deep pot on the stove, to about 375°F or 190°C.

Use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop to make small balls and drop them carefully into the hot oil, just a few at a time. Do not crowd the pot.  Traditionally, these should be oval or American-football shaped, but I have a cookie scoop and it’s so much easier!

Fry the bolinhos for several minutes or until they are a lovely golden brown and crunchy on the outside. Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove them from the hot oil and put them on the paper towels to drain. Continue until all of the fritters are cooked.

Serve hot and fresh with some spicy hot sauce or your favorite tartar sauce, if desired.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodies are sharing Latin American seafood dishes so make sure you check out the list below. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Almond Lavender Plum Bundt #BundtBakers

This Almond Plum Lavender Bundt is a rich, buttery pound cake, made with ground almonds and fresh plums, with the subtle floral note of summer lavender.

If you’ve never been in the fields of a lavender farm, it will be hard for me to describe that sweet smell for you. It is so far removed from the often harsh, strong lavender of soaps and cleaning products, although I must confess that having smelled growing lavender, I am also a fan of those.

Every week when I do my laundry, I use not only lavender scented detergent, but also lavender scented clothes softener. It reminds me of summer and warm breezes and Jersey Lavender Farm, a working farm we pass regularly when on the island.

One summer, many years ago, we got to know some temporary neighbors who were staying in the house across from ours while their home was renovated. The couple was delightful, just a bit older than we were, and their eldest daughter was working as the cook in The Sprigs, the tearoom and shop attached to the lavender farm. Not every item on the menu included culinary lavender but a fair share surely did.

While we had visited the farm, we’d never been in The Sprigs. Hearing our neighbors talk about the creative ways their daughter was using lavender in baked goods, I was inspired to add it to mine. As long as one is careful not to put too much, lavender adds a delightfully delicate floral aroma and flavor.

This month my Bundt Bakers are baking up cakes with flowers, another opportunity to let lavender shine.

Almond Lavender Plum Bundt

The butter and ground almonds make this cake super rich. Serve small slices with a hot cup of tea for the perfect snack.

Ingredients
For the Bundt cake:
12 oz or 340g ripe but firm plums (about 5)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup or 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup or 200g sugar
4 eggs
3/4 cup or 95g plain flour
2 1/3 cups or 250g ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lavender flowers, fresh or dry
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the icing drizzle:
1/2 cup or 62g icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk

For decorating (optional):
2 teaspoons lavender sugar (It's so easy to make - instructions here.)
1 tablespoon toasted almond slivers

Method
Preheat the oven to 350ºF or 180°C. Butter and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan and set aside. Cut your plums in half and remove the stones.

Cut them in half again. I decided to lay some plum quarters at the bottom of Bundt pan so I set aside nine of them and chopped the rest. As you will see farther on, the batter crept under some of the plums so I didn’t achieve the effect I wanted when the cake was turned out of the pan. Next time, I might just chop all of the plums. Toss the plums in a small bowl with the lemon juice and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer, beating on a medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until fully incorporated. By the third or fourth eggs, the batter looks a little curdy. Do not be alarmed.

Add in flour and beat briefly.

Fold in ground almonds, chopped plums, vanilla, lavender flowers and salt.

If you are trying my trick of lining the bottom of your prepared Bundt with plum quarters, fit them in now. While the look I wanted didn’t turn out, it was nice to have a slice of plum on the top of each piece of cake.

This is a Nordic Ware Blossom Bundt pan.*

Spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth the top.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean, covering the top with foil if it starts to get too brown.

To make the drizzle icing, whisk together the powdered sugar with the milk and vanilla, until you make a smooth paste.

Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Loosen the edges and middle with a blunt knife. Turn over on a wire cooling rack. Leave the Bundt to cool completely before drizzling the icing over the cooled cake.

Immediately sprinkle with the toasted almonds and lavender sugar, if using.

Each slice is topped with plum!

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month’s host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for this fresh and fragrant theme, as well as her behind the scenes work. Check out all the flowery Bundts we are sharing this month.

• Almond Lavender Plum Bundt from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Lavender Bundt from Sweet Sensations
• Eggless Gulkand Bundt Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Elderflower Pound Cake with Lemon - Elderflower Glaze from The Queen of Scones
• Hibiscus Tea Bundt Cake from Merce´s Cake
• Karkadeh Bundt Cake with Mascarpone Lavender Filling from Katin Špajz
• Lavender & Olive Oil Bundtlettes from I Love Bundt Cakes
• Lemon & Lavender Ricotta Bundt Cakes from Living the Gourmet
• Orange Blossom Bundt from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Roses and Pistachios Bundt Cake from Nunca es demasiado dulce
• Violets Bundt Cake from Paty Co. Candy Bar

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

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