I have made this Brown Sugar Shortbread (recipe here) more times than I can count. I refrigerate the dough when I make it in summer so that it gets stiff enough to cut cleanly, and it always, always comes out great and tastes so rich and buttery. Next Sunday, my Sunday school class is giving a bridal tea in honor of the daughter of one of our members, and I was delighted to be asked to help. So yesterday, I decided to try making this shortbread with the addition of a teaspoon of Earl Grey Lavender and Roses tea, and it is as delicious as I suspected it would be. I didn't have a tea bag in this flavor of tea, so I just pulverized the tea in a spice grinder.
I'll be contributing the scones and jam and cream to next week's tea, and I decided that I'll take this shortbread, too, just because you can never have too many offerings at a group tea. The tiny little flecks are tea! At first, I was going to do something different and cut these out with my teaspoon-shaped cookie cutter instead of the teapot one that I normally use, but Alex agreed with me that once it baked, it resembled a dog bone, and that wasn't quite the look I was going for. (Plus, the "handle" of the teaspoon cookie was so thin that it broke when I lifted it off the pan, but Alex was happy to eat it, anyway.) A reader once asked if it was necessary to prick the shortbread with the tines of a fork before baking, and it isn't. It's simply my attempt at making these cookies look like that yummy Walker's Shortbread.
When I was asked if I had some teapots and teacups we could use for the tea, I laughed. (If they only knew …) But I suggested we use these tea and toast sets since they'll be easier to balance when everyone is roaming all over my Sunday school teacher's house, where we're holding the tea. I've already started pulling everything out and am greatly looking forward to my first tea in quite some time. We're all supposed to wear hats to the tea, so hopefully I'll have cute photos for you this time next week!
Now here is a wonderful post! I love all the details you give about this recipe and you have really developed it! I am sure everyone will love them!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bernideen! I don't quite have your flair for presentation (yet), but I'm trying! :)
DeleteBernideen, I second your comments! Angela, thank you for a simple suggestion of how to incorporate tea into a popular tea cookie recipe.
DeleteThat sounds like a very nice bridal team, with your tea and toast sets, and your cute cookies, and the ladies wearing hats and all. I had to laugh when I read that your husband said your teaspoon-shaped cookies looked like dog bones!
ReplyDeleteAlmost makes me wonder if he was *hoping* for the cast offs … ;)
DeleteThose tea and toast sets are perfect to use for your tea, and the teapot shaped shortbread sounds and looks delicious! I'll look forward to seeing your pictures of the event.
ReplyDeleteSounds like y'all are going to have so much fun! Love the hat idea, the tea shaped cookies, and the tea and toast sets. I did want to share a tidbit that I learned over the weekend from watching Absolute History on YouTube. The episode was about Queen Victoria visiting the lavish Burghley House. At about the 10 minute mark in the show, the hostess, Rosemary, and historian chef are making shortbread cookies using molds that would have been used during the queen's visit. The chef says that the holes are poked into the dough so the cookies will remain flat. It's called docking. The chef used a fork but said the tool that was used way back when was called a docker. Something to be on the lookout for now to add to our collections:-).
ReplyDeleteLove seeing your cookies and tea sets all ready to go.
ReplyDeleteYes, having tea with friends is so special once again.