White Chocolate, Orange and Pistachio Shortbread

There is something extremely homely and comforting about shortbread. Perhaps it's the sheer simplicity of ingredients, there are only about three ingredients in the basic shortbread dough: butter, flour and sugar. That's it. And the three meld together to create the buttery, delicate biscuit rimmed with sugar that is shortbread. 

Shortbread has also been around for an incredibly long time and its invention is often attributed to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. Petticoat tails (this is the round shortbread cut into triangles) were said to have been enjoyed by the Queen. I've always found it fascinating to find out what the monarchy enjoy eating, remembering Henry VIII's lavish feasts and Elizabeth's I's love for marzipan. 

As much as I love traditional shortbread, I couldn't resist pairing orange and pistachio together. I had a packet of opened pistachios to use so...well, they had to be used in something. 

The most essential thing to remember when you are making shortbread is to remember that is it short. So it's crumbly and delicate and should melt in the mouth. Therefore what you want to do is to handle the dough as little as possible. The more you knead the dough, the more gluten is worked in....leading to a tough biscuit. 

Orange and White Chocolate Pistachio Shortbread

Ingredients:

175g/6oz plain flour, sifted
110g/4oz butter, at room temperature
50g/2oz caster sugar, or vanilla sugar if you have it
50g/2oz shelled pistachios
1 tsp almond extract
Zest of one large orange
100g/4oz  good quality white chocolate (I like Green and Black's with its speckles of vanilla seed)

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Line your largest baking tray with grease proof paper. 

2. Put the butter into a large mixing bowl with the sugar and beat with a spoon/or a electric whisk until light and fluffy. 

3. In a food processor, blitz the ground pistachios until they come into a reasonably fine powder. 

4. Mix into this butter and sugar mixture, the almond extract and orange zest. Stir until combined. Then gently fold in the flour and ground pistachios. Try not to over mix. 

5. Carefully shape the dough (it should come together very easily) into a log about 10cm long. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. 

6. Once adequately chilled, remove from the fridge and slice into rounds about 5mm thick. 

7. Place on a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes until beginning to colour on the edges. They won't be super crisp when they come out but will firm up as they cool. Once they've cooled enough to be moved, put them on a cooling rack. 

8. When the shortbread is cool, melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a bain marie (aka a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave if you're feeling rebellious). Dip each one (or leave a few plain, not everyone likes the sweetness of white chocolate) into the white chocolate and leave to set.