Baking with Cyndy, The Student Home Cook

I consider myself pretty inexperienced in the kitchen. I didn't really learn to cook until I got married a few years ago, so I'm still picking up basic concepts and gaining confidence. I follow recipes almost to the letter and I haven't ventured far into the world of throwing flavours together based on what I think will be tasty. That's why I am so in awe of the skillz and kitchen magic possessed by Cyndy of The Student Home Cook.

Last weekend I had the chance to do some baking with her and pick her brain about it all. We made these delicious shortbread squares topped with raspberry-apple curd and crumble.

 

shortbread bars with raspberry-apple curd and crumble

 First, we compared a few shortbread recipes from the internet and made our own using similar ratios. We based it on a particular recipe but wanted to cut out the cup of cornstarch and add icing sugar. Since the recipe has no rising agent, we omitted the salt. We also added lemon zest.

Cyndy's Shorbread Bars

1.75 cups flour
0.75 cups icing sugar
1 cup butter (we used half cold and half room temperature)*
lemon zest
raspberry-apple curd
crumble topping: butter, flour and oats mixed together

Combine in a food processor until crumbly fairly uniform. Pack into baking pan and bake for about 20min at 325 C, or until lightly golden. Top with curd and crumble, bake at 425 C until crumble melts and carmelizes.

Enjoy!

*I learnt that it's important to use cold butter when making shortbread. The reason for this is that the cold butter stays in small clumps when mixed with the dry ingredients and when baked it melts, forming pockets of air which contribute to the awesome texture of shorbread.

The final result was Delicious with a capital D, as you can see!  I really liked how the lemon zest added a refreshing taste that balanced the heavy butteryness.

Thanks Cyndy, for letting me in on some of your baking secrets! I highly recommend her blog for more great recipes.