I’d had such a nice day at Bluewater [shopping centre] on Sunday afternoon that it put me in good mood to cook these shortbreads. I don’t recall making shortbread, ever, but maybe I should check my blogs and Instagram feed to see if that is actually true! Anyhow I am certain I would not have made them with saffron or sesame seeds. Saffron is, as you know, quite expensive, so I guess these are quite sumptous saffron sesame shortbreads.
I hadn’t looked at the instructions before hand so I did not realise that once I made the dough it had to sit in the fridge for an hour. Therefore, I did not actually bake these until this afternoon. I only used one of the ‘sausages’ and cut 6 pieces.
These shortbreads are interesting. They feel a bit crumbly and gritty, that I guess would be the sesame seeds. I think I like them! They are certainly very pretty, these golden buttery discs. I think I will know more, once I have them with a cup of tea or black coffee. I’ll keep you posted!
Ingredients
Makes 18 – 20
100g sesame seeds
250g plain flour
100 icing sugar
Generous pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes
200g unsalted butter, softened.
0.5g (½ teaspoon) saffron threads, ground to a powder using a pestle and mortar, then steeped in 1 tablespoon boiling water until cool
Caster sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 220oC (200oC fan), Gas Mark 7.
Spread the sesame seeds out on a baking tray and toast for 6 – 8 minutes until browned. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Combine the sesame seeds with the flour, icing sugar, salt and butter in a mixing bowl, then add the saffron solution and work the ingredients into a dough.
Divide the dough in half and form each half into a sausage about 4 – 5 cm in diameter. Wrap each sausage in clingfilm and twist the ends to tightly encase the dough, like a sweet wrapper. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Alternatively, you can freeze them for another day.
Preheat the oven to 170oC (150oC fan), Gas Mark 3 ½. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Unwrap each sausage of dough, then cut into 1cm – thick slices and lay on the prepared baking tray about 2 cm apart. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with caster sugar. Leave to cool on the tray before serving.
Reference: Simply, Sabrina Ghayfour, Page 221
