Ingredients
| APPLE FILLING | |
| 6 medium Granny Smith apples | |
| zest & juice of 1 lemon | |
| 1 teaspoon ground cardamom | |
| 50g (approx ¼ cup) sugar | |
| 1 tablespoon rosewater | |
| SHORTCAKE PASTRY | |
| 200g butter, softened | |
| 200g caster sugar | |
| 2 teaspoons vanilla extract | |
| grated zest of 1 lemon | |
| 2 eggs, size 7 | |
| 340g plain flour (approx 2½ cups) | |
| 2 teaspoons baking powder | |
| 1 teaspoon ground cardamom | |
| TO ASSEMBLE | |
| 1 tablespoon caster sugar | |
| 25g (¼ cup) flaked almonds | |
| icing sugar, for dusting | |
| dried rose petals, for garnishing (optional) |
I do love a shortcake and this is based on one that my mother has made for years. Cardamom with its warm spice and sweet citrus aroma works well with apples and rosewater. This makes one large tin, but you could easily halve the recipe if you prefer. As mentioned, you could use the apricot paste from the chocolate tart in place of the apples, adding a little more liquid to make the paste more of a purée. Or consider using the same flavourings used in the rhubarb compote, stewing it in a pan for the shortcake filling instead of baking.
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Instructions
| 1. | APPLE FILLING |
| 2. | Peel and core the apples and cut into chunks. |
| 3. | Put into a saucepan with the lemon zest and juice, cardamom and sugar and cook, covered, over a low heat for 10 minutes or until the apple has cooked through and disintegrated. |
| 4. | Stir through the rosewater and set aside to cool. |
| 5. | SHORTCAKE PASTRY |
| 6. | Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. |
| 7. | And the vanilla and lemon zest and beat well. |
| 8. | Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition and adding 1 tablespoon of the flour after each addition so the mix doesn’t curdle. |
| 9. | Sift the flour, baking powder and cardamom into the butter mix and combine. The dough will be soft and sticky. |
| 10. | Shape into a rough rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour (or overnight if needs be). |
| 11. | TO ASSEMBLE |
| 12. | Line a Swiss roll tin (approx 23cm x 33cm) with baking paper. |
| 13. | Heat the oven to 180°C fan bake. |
| 14. | Cut the pastry in half. Roll one half on a floured bench and line the base of the tin. |
| 15. | Add the apple filling and spread evenly over the pastry. |
| 16. | For the top you can either roll out the remaining pastry and place on top of the apple or, as I have done, roll it out roughly, then break up the dough and scatter it evenly over the apple filling. |
| 17. | Sprinkle over the caster sugar and almonds. |
| 18. | Bake for 20 minutes, then turn down the heat to 160°C and bake for a further 25 minutes or until golden. |
| 19. | Allow to cool for 15 minutes before cutting into slices. |
| 20. | Dust with icing sugar and garnish with dried rose petals, if using. |
| 21. | Serve with yoghurt, ice cream or whipped cream. |
Recipes & food styling Ginny Grant / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Jess Hemmings