Equipment
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 225 g plain flour
- 75 g cornflour
- 1 g fine sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 200 g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 100 g caster sugar
- 5 ml vanilla extract
Fruit
- 100 g glacé cherries, finely chopped
Nutrition (per serving)
Method
Finely chop the glacé cherries on a cutting board. Rinse them briefly under warm water to remove excess syrup, then thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels.
In a mixing bowl, cream the softened unsalted butter and caster sugar together using an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
Beat the vanilla extract into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
Place a sieve over the mixing bowl. Sift the plain flour, cornflour, and fine sea salt into the bowl. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture using a low speed or a wooden spoon until a crumbly dough begins to form.
Add the dried, chopped glacé cherries to the bowl and mix gently until they are evenly distributed and the dough completely comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a sheet of parchment paper. Shape it by hand into an even cylindrical log approximately 5 centimetres in diameter. Wrap the log tightly in the parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes until firm.
Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Line a large baking tray with a fresh sheet of parchment paper.
Remove the firm dough log from the refrigerator. Using a sharp chef's knife, slice the log into rounds about 1 centimetre thick. Place the rounds onto the prepared baking tray, leaving a 2 centimetre gap between each biscuit to allow for slight spreading.
Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes. The biscuits are ready when the edges are just beginning to turn a pale golden colour, while the centres remain pale.
Allow the shortbread to rest on the baking tray for 5 minutes to firm up. Carefully transfer them to a wire rack using a spatula and leave to cool completely.
Chef's Notes
- Washing the sticky syrup off the glacé cherries and drying them thoroughly is a crucial step; it prevents them from sinking or creating soggy, uncured pockets of dough in the finished biscuit.
- Replacing a portion of the plain flour with cornflour reduces overall gluten development, resulting in the signature sandy, melting texture characteristic of premium shortbread.
- Be careful not to overwork the dough once the flour is added. Overmixing develops gluten and leads to tough, hard biscuits rather than tender, crumbly ones.
- If your cherries are particularly large, chop them down to the size of a small pea. Larger chunks will make slicing the dough log cleanly much more difficult.
Storage
Refrigerator: 2 weeks — Store baked biscuits in an airtight container to maintain crispness.
Freezer: 3 months — Wrap unbaked dough tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before slicing.
