Pixie Jar

18/10 PIXIE JAR

In the flick of a wrist, in just a flash, you'll land a prince with a tonne of cash. Wishful thinking. As sweet and glistening as this faerie godmother of biscuits look, be warned they are prone to taking a dark turn. This was in a moment of transcendant hesitation. I had no idea what was going to come and something so perfect and pretty was always going to lead me astray.

This recipe is easy to let turn dark. Over working the crumb, too long in the oven, a heavy had in the jar… This is about being gently and calm. Let things happen and trust that they all do for a reason. This was what happened the first time I made these, spontaneous and camp biscuits. They were a treat which paved the way for darker versions. Be warned this pink faerie isn’t as wholesome as she looks. But she is very moorish and who doesn’t like twinkling in the dark.

Ingredients (all approximate) - 

200g Flour

60g sugar

125g Butter

1/2 tsp vanilla paste (no extract, has to be viscous or dry – even use vanilla sugar if you need)

50g Waitrose Raspberry Sugar*

*Trust me on this, there is no substitute. Unless you can’t get to a Waitrose in which case just find a camp sugar

What I did - 

The thing with shortbread is that its short. Short means quick. Short means easy. Theoretically.

Begin by grating the butter into the sugar. This makes it easier to mix without melting and it would be a lumpy mess if the butter melted while mixing. This way the small shavings of butter are coated in the sugar evenly and when bakes will belt away creating the shortbread crumb. 

Add the flour to this mix and use your fingers to flutter into a humbly mess. It will not look anything like a biscuit dough. In face it amy look like a bowl of pale sand. This is all okay. When its all combined, no large butter lumps and no patches of flour floating around you can start wodging into something that resembles more of a dough. 

The problem is if you over work it the butter melts and you end up with a very dense crumb and end up with a kindergarten biscuit. Keep the mix dry and turn on to a bench. Here you can work it into a loose lump and then roll to about 1cm. It should not hold together, instead use a big knife to cut into fingers and then use to slide under and transfer to a baking parchment lined tray. Repeat until your suitably frustrated. Transfer to the fridge and chill for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Dust each biscuit gently with the pink magic sugar. Bake for 15 minutes. Don’t let the pale colour fool you, it is cooked. 

Leave to cool for about 10-15, until you can slide them to a cooling rack to dry out completely. 

Ifa ll goes to plan you end up with a really delicious crumble shortbread. If it doesn’t like the other times I’ve tried this you end up with a dark, sweet biscuit best suited for drowning in coffee. Either way win/win.

JG

American Dream Cookie

29/04 AMERICAN DREAM COOKIE

It's a mythical thing, the perfect American cookie. Recipes like enduring myths tend to change and take on the life of those making them. This recipe is no different, it is in part inspired by a close friends prefect cookie recipe, but has been altered to accommodate my raisin obsession. The raisins were implanted in my head during a long day in San Francisco Bay, where I had the cookie I had always imagined. A big oat filled country cookie flecked with dark raisin beads.

Here it is in all its Dolly Parton hometown glory, I'm not sure if that sentence makes sense even to me. American life. American Dream. Things are not always as they seem... Try some, buy some. 

Ingredients (not-so-approximate) - 

2 1/3 Cup Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 Cups Castor Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (Muscavado/Dark)
175g Butter
2 Large eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Oats
1 Cup Raisins

What I did - 

Its best to start with everything you need at hand, strewed across the kitchen counter like its posing for a Home & Garden centrefold. Just makes the wholesome cookie cooking experience more straightforward and as rhythmically calming as it should be. Also this recipe wont work without the right ingredients, and there is nothing more frustrating than some molten lumps in the oven.

With a good stand mixer (preferably red and named after Nigella) or a strong beating arm combine the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. There will be flecks from the dark sugar, but it is an essential part of the nutty sweetness. Add the vanilla and eggs (one at a time if doing by hand to make your work easier) until completely beaten through and slightly aerated - at the very least not a thick gloop. Now its time to stir in all the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda & salt. Stir gently first so there isn't a flour atom bomb suddenly enveloping the kitchen. Once its less airborne beat firmly until it becomes a dark golden cohered dough.

Here its time to add the 'bits' which for these rustic biscuits takes the form of a dense cup of rolled oats and another of plump raisins. You can substitute and add anything at this stage, other fruits, nuts, spices, chocolate. Just be mindful of not making the dough too dry. Use an ice-cream scoop to make perfect half spheres and arrange them on a lined baking tray*. Make sure they have enough space to grow in the oven, about 5cm between each one.

Bake for 15 minutes in a well heated oven (180degrees). They should be golden with a slightly darker bottom, give them a few more minutes to tan if they look too pale. Rest them on a cooling rack. Don't put them in a tin until they're completely cooled or they will perspire and no one likes a sweaty cookie.

Be proud of your home-grown (baked) family recipe (handed over at gunpoint) country (suburban) cookies.

*These can be frozen for about two weeks, just add an extra 5 minutes baking time for defrosting.

JG