Since I moved to England I have become a big fan of Elderflower, mostly in the form of cordial until now. In my exploration into the world of edible flowers I found fresh elderflowers from Maddocks Farm Organics in Cullompton, Devon so I am making elderflower shortbread decorated with real edible elderflowers. These are not your Christmas shortbread they are light and refreshing and taste of English summer.
For edible flowers in Canada try Growers Direct or Four Seasons Farms In Nova Scotia
Ingredients
For the shortbread
225g plain flour
50g cornflour
75g caster sugar
225g butter
Rind of 1 lemon
1 tsp Elderflower Cordial
For the glaze and decoration
70 g Icing Sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Edible Elderflowers
Method
1.) Place all the dry ingredients, lemon rind and elderflower cordial into a bowl. Cut the butter into the mixture and rub it in. Initially, this will make a crumbly mixture, but then it will eventually come together as a single piece of dough.
2.) Flour a worktop and turn out the dough. Knead it gently then roll it out in to 2 cylinder shapes approximately 3cm in diameter. Wrap them in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3.) Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C for Fan Ovens
4.) Once the dough has been chilled, slice the roll of dough into 1 cm tranches and place on a non stick or parchment lined baking tray.
5.) Bake for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown and remove from the oven and leave to cool.
6.) While the the shortbread is baking mix the lemon juice and icing sugar in a small bowl to make a paste. Prepare the elderflowers by pulling off the stems and breaking them down into individual flowers.
7.) Once cool place a little of the glaze on the top and spread it around sprinkle on some of the edible elderflowers and leave the glaze to set. Enjoy.
Photographed on a vintage cutting board with étoile home’s Rosemary Fabric in Mustard Yellow.
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I was recently reminded of something we used to make at summer camp called Bannock, an easy bread recipe that can be made on a fire using the last embers in a frying pan or wrapped around a stick.
I love how modern yet rustic this tart looks, it's an impressive dessert for any occasion, delicious served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and best of all it's really easy to make. You can replace the fruit and herbs with anything that's in season and voilà!
