Tangerine & Cardamom Shortbread

I love shortbread in almost any form. So this tangerine and cardamom shortbread version is perfect for me. I am sure many others will enjoy it too.

It uses the same shortbread recipe that I love so much. But this has some tangerine zest and some cardamom added to give two wonderful flavours to enjoy too.

So when eating the shortbread there is that wonderful buttery taste, with the tender crumb of shortbread. But there is also the subtle flavour of tangerine which works so well, along with delightfully light spicy taste of cardamom.

As with most shortbread recipes this is very easy to make. Simply rub butter into all the other ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then squeeze the mixture into a dough, adding a drop or two of water if needed. Place it into a prepared pan and prick it all over. Then bake it in the oven. The baking time is between 60 and 75 minutes. Just until the top has coloured and the shortbread is cooked all the way through.

Once baked it needs to be left for 10 minutes before slicing into wedges, in the pan. It is best to leave it to cool completely, after that, before transferring to an airtight container until needed.

Using an 8 inch/20 cm cake pan with a removable bottom is best for this recipe. However one without a removable base will be fine. The shortbread will be easy to remove.

My Tangerine & Cardamom Shortbread

I baked my shortbread for 70 minutes. The top had coloured well and I could see that it was baked enough.

So I took it out of the oven and left it for 10 minutes. Then I carefully cut it into 12 wedges of equal size.

I left the shortbread to cool completely. Then I removed it from the cake pan and had a taste. The texture was perfect, with that tender but crumbly feel in the mouth. The flavour was simply fantastic, with the butteriness expected with good shortbread. But the addition of the zest and cardamom, made it all even better. The entire flavour combination worked so well.

Another great biscuit recipe is: Gingernuts – Crunchy Ginger Biscuits.

Tangerine & Cardamom Shortbread

Recipe by geoffcoo

Course: Biscuits, CookiesCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

15

minutes

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

• 175(1 cup + 21/2 tbsp, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) plain flour

• 175g(12 1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter, cubed. My was out of the fridge for 1 hour before use.

• 75g(1/2 cup) fine semolina

• 75g(6 tbsp) caster sugar

• 3g(2 tsp) ground cardamom

• 1.5g (1/4 tsp) salt

• 6g(2 tsp) grated tangerine zest

• 15ml(1 tbsp) cold water(may not be required)

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 150C/300F.
• Line the base of a 20cm/8 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Preferably use one with a removable base.
• Place all the dry ingredients, into the bowl of a processor and pulse a few times to mix together. This can be done by hand.
• Add the butter and pulse repeatedly until the butter is entirely broken down into the dry ingredients which will then resemble breadcrumbs(you can do this by hand rubbing the butter into the mixture).
• Tip the mixture into a large bowl and use your hands to squeeze it into a dough. If it is too dry add just a little of the water and squeeze again, until it it all comes together.
• Place the dough into the prepared pan and press it down to cover the base, then smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
• Prick the dough all over, going right through it, with a fork.
• Press the tines of the fork all around the edge of the dough to make a pattern about 1/2 inch in length.
• Bake the shortbread for between 60 and 75 minutes, until the top has coloured nicely and the dough is cooked right through.
• Remove the shortbread from the oven and leave it in the pan for 10 minutes.
• With a sharp knife cut the shortbread into four equal quarters, then cut each quarter into 3 equal wedges.
• Leave the shortbread in the pan until it has cooled completely.
• Then remove it from the pan and store it in an airtight container until you wish to serve it.