The other Kathy posted a recipe for shortbread the other day, and I gave my (similar) recipe in reply.
Today I made my shortbread but the mixture seemed much drier than I remembered, though I haven't made it in years. Shock, horror! Could it be I'd used the wrong recipe? I made a second batch, using a diffrent recipe that had less cornflour, and caster sugar insteading of confectioners sugar. It wasn't as dry.
Here are the pics. Icing sugar is confectioners sugar
shortbread using icing sugar, mixed stage (note how crumbly it is. It then needs to be kneaded, then rolled).
shortbread using icing sugar ready to bake
Persnickity Persimmon Puzzle 1205Spitzmaus Your persimmons aren't ripe. Here's a technique that will let you make certain they're fully ripe before you need them. Wrap each one in two layers of plastic wrap. The reason is to minimize...
shortbread using caster sugar ready to bake (I accidentally cut these a lot larger)
both shortbreads cooked, caster sugar in front, confectioners sugar at back.
I did a taste test. While the icing sugar mixture was much drier and tending to crack when rolled, necessitating squeezing it at the sides to eliminate the cracks, it was much nicer than the caster sugar batch. The icing sugar shortbread was buttery, melt in the mouth smoothness. The caster sugar batch was more brittle to the bite, but not as appealing in the mouth. I'd definitley stick to icing sugar in future.
Kathy in NZ, after the taste test, in the service of science:
