 A shortbread round | |
| Type | Biscuit |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Scotland |
| Main ingredients | Flour, butter, white sugar |
Shortbread or shortie [1] is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Shortbread does not contain any leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda. Shortbread is widely associated with Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in Scotland, and some Scottish brands are exported around the world.
Shortbread originated in Scotland. [2] [3] Although it was prepared during much of the 12th century, and probably benefited from cultural exchange with French pastry chefs during the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland, [4] the refinement of shortbread is popularly credited to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. [5] Despite the enduring popular association, evidence for any connection between Mary and shortbread's origin is sparse. [6]
Triangular wedges of shortbread became known as "petticoat tails", and this form of shortbread has become particularly associated with Mary, Queen of Scots. [7] It has been suggested that a French term for the wedges of shortbread was petits gâteaux or petites gatelles – little cakes, and this became "petticoat tails". It is now thought the Scots term derives from the decorated round edge of the segments which resemble petticoats. [8]
The first printed recipe, in 1736, was from a Scotswoman named Mrs McLintock. [9]
Shortbread was expensive and reserved as a luxury for special occasions such as Christmas, Hogmanay (Scottish New Year's Eve), and weddings. In Scotland, it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake (infar-cake or dreaming bread) over the head of a new bride on the entrance of her new house. [10] [11] [12] Shortbread was also given as a gift. [4]
Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture (from an old meaning of the word "short", as opposed to "long", or stretchy). [13] [14] [15] The cause of this texture is its high fat content, provided by the butter. The short or crumbly texture is a result of the fat inhibiting the formation of long protein (gluten) strands. The related word "shortening" refers to any fat that may be added to produce a "short" (crumbly) texture. [16]
In British English, shortbread and shortcake were synonyms for several centuries, starting in the 1400s; both referred to the crisp, crumbly cookie-type baked good, rather than a softer cake. [17] The "short-cake" mentioned in Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor , first published in 1602, was a reference to the cookie-style of shortbread. [17]
In American English, shortbread is different from shortcake. [17] Shortcake usually has a chemical leavening agent such as baking powder, which gives it a different, softer texture, and it was normally split and filled with fruit. [17] The most popular example of this difference is strawberry shortcake. [17] [18]
Other ingredients are often substituted for part of the flour to alter the texture. Rice flour or semolina makes it grittier, and cornflour makes it more tender. [4] Bere or oat flour may be added for flavour. [19]
Modern recipes also often deviate from the original by splitting the sugar into equal parts granulated and icing sugar and many add a portion of salt.
Spices and ingredients such as almonds may be added. [4]
Shortbread is commonly formed into one of three shapes:
Shortbread may also be made in farls.
In one of the oldest shapes, bakers pinched the edges of a shortbread round to suggest the rays of the sun. [4]
The stiff dough retains its shape well during cooking. The biscuits are often patterned before cooking, usually with the tines of a fork or with a springerle-type mold. Shortbread is sometimes shaped into hearts and other shapes for special occasions.
Variations in ingredients for some recipes include the optional addition of caraway seeds to petticoat tails, [12] coriander and caraway in Goosnargh, [20] egg yolk and cream in Ayrshire, citrus peel and almonds in Pitcaithly bannock, [12] and demerara sugar in Dorset. [21]
Millionaire's shortbread, also called caramel squares, is a modern variation, in which shortbread is topped with caramel and chocolate. [18]
In ancient Scottish folklore, sun-shaped cakes, such as shortbread, had magic powers over the Sun during the Scottish New Year's Eve. [4]
Shortbread is generally associated with and originated in Scotland, but due to its popularity it is also made in the rest of the United Kingdom, and similar biscuits are also made in Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. The Scottish version is the best-known, and is widely exported.
Scottish chef John Quigley, of Glasgow's Red Onion, describes shortbread as "the jewel in the crown" of Scottish baking. [22]
An early variety of shortbread, using ginger, was reportedly eaten during sittings of the Parliament of Scotland, and therefore the variety was sometimes called "Parliament cake" or "Parlies" into the 19th century. [23] [24] The biscuits were sold in Mrs Flockhart's tavern and shop in Bristo Street in Edinburgh's Potterrow. Known as Luckie Fykie, the landlady was thought to be the inspiration for Mrs Flockhart in Walter Scott's Waverley. [25] [26]
In the UK tax code, shortbread is taxed as a flour confection (baked good) rather than as a common biscuit. [4]
A cookie or biscuit is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections. The occupation of confectioner encompasses the categories of cooking performed by both the French patissier and the confiseur.
Shortcrust is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart, quiche, pie, or flan. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche, lemon meringue or chicken pie.
A biscuit, in most English speaking countries, is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. Types of biscuit include sandwich biscuits, digestive biscuits, ginger biscuits, shortbread biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-coated marshmallow treats, Anzac biscuits, biscotti, and speculaas.
Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies, graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually refrigerated.
Shortcake generally refers to a dessert with a crumbly scone-like texture. There are multiple variations of shortcake, most of which are served with fruit and cream. One of the most popular is strawberry shortcake, which is typically served with whipped cream. Other variations common in the UK are blackberry and clotted cream shortcake and lemon berry shortcake, which is served with lemon curd in place of cream.
Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as a ginger snap.
A sugar cookie, or sugar biscuit, is a cookie with the main ingredients being sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and either baking powder or baking soda. Sugar cookies may be formed by hand, dropped, or rolled and cut into shapes. They may be decorated with additional sugar, icing, sprinkles, or a combination of these. Decorative shapes and figures can be cut into the rolled-out dough using a cookie cutter.
A bannock is a variety of flatbread or quick bread cooked from flour, typically round, which is common in Scotland and other areas in the British Isles. They are usually cut into sections before serving.
Caramel shortbread, also known as caramel squares, caramel slice, millionaire's shortbread, millionaire's slice, chocolate caramel shortbread, and Wellington squares is a biscuit confectionery item composed of a rectangular, triangular or circular shortbread biscuit base topped with caramel and milk chocolate. Variations exist which substitute or add ingredients to cater to different tastes, dietary requirements or ingredient availability.
In the United States and Canada, a biscuit is a variety of baked bread with a firm, dry exterior and a soft, crumbly interior. It is made with baking powder as a leavening agent rather than yeast, and at times is called a baking powder biscuit to differentiate it from other types. Like other forms of bread, a biscuit is often served with butter or other condiments, flavored with other ingredients, or combined with other types of food to make sandwiches or other dishes.
The Abernethy biscuit was invented by surgeon John Abernethy in the 18th century as a digestive improver and hence aid to health.
Qurabiya, is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. Versions are found in most Arab and Ottoman cuisines, with various different forms and recipes. They are similar to polvorones from Andalusia.
The sandie, sometimes referred to as sablé, is a type of sugar cookie or shortbread cookie. The pecan sandie is a common variety of the cookie utilizing pecans. The Keebler Company has registered the brand name Sandies, which it uses for a line of shortbread cookies.
Limpa is a sweet Scandinavian rye bread, associated with Swedish cuisine. The bread is known in Swedish as vörtbröd/vörtlimpa. It is a yeast-leavened spice loaf, sweetened with brown sugar and molasses which comes in a large variety in regard to whether or not butter-enriched, and which spices are being used. Traditional bread spices are anise, caraway, fennel seeds, and bitter orange.
Jinhua Shortbread, also known as Jinhua Crispy Cake and Jinhua Shortcake, is a traditional snack in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China.
5. ... shortbread,... Also in reduced form shortie
Another staple, is, of course, shortbread. This sweet buttery treat originated in Scotland...
...not all shortbread is made with white flour. On Orkney, where a tasty Neolithic barley known as "bere" is still grown and milled, bakers add a little of this flour to their shortbread. Others add rolled oats to provide more flavour and texture.
There are many variations. The thick Pitcaithly bannock has peel and almonds in the mixture. Queen Victoria's Balmoral recipe for shortbread was seasoned with a little salt; egg yolk and a little cream are added for extra richness in Ayrshire shortbread, and demerara sugar in Dorset shortbread. Goosnargh cakes, named for the village in Lancashire where they achieved great popularitly in the 19th century, contain ground coriander and whole caraway seeds.
