TWD: Hungarian Shortbread

TWD: Hungarian Shortbread


This is another one of the recipes that I've been eyeing for years. While I thought the taste was fantastic, I've been second guessing if we got the texture exactly right.  But I'm jumping ahead of myself. 



Sarah and I made the rhubarb filling the week before because Dad found some great red stalks at Whole Foods.  The sauce was sweet and tart and would be excellent over ice cream. 



Sarah did a great job measuring out the salt and helping me with the rest of the dry ingredients.  Sarah's Kindergarten class has been learning about measuring and she's pretty into it and is loving explaining all that she knows on the subject.  For this reason she wanted to put four times as much salt as the recipe called for because using the teaspoon is so much fun!



A pound of butter, how can you go wrong? When we first turned on the KitchenAid, one of the sticks came flying out of the bowl. "Whoopsy",  Sarah said.  So just to let all the tasters in my family and work know, yes the "five second rule" was involved here if you catch my drift.



When I got the grater out my husband thought I had gone crazy.  It's a pretty weird method but I can see why this would help the shortbread turn out light a fluffy rather than too hard and cookie-like. It looked pretty weird going into the oven.  So much so that I did not include the picture.  I hate to write about gross comparisons to what it resembled in a food blog so I'll let you use your imagination on your own.



This is my favorite photograph; the rhubarb is pretty-in-pink and glistening.  Rhubarb does have a gelatinous quality to it.  I think if I ever prepare this to serve over ice cream I would blend it.



I baked for 50 minutes instead of the 40 minutes as written in the recipe.  The top was golden brown and the shortbread was not longer giggly.  We finished baking this at about 8:15 pm on Sunday so I let it cool on the counter for most of the night. Sarah wanted to try so badly, she woke up at about 8:45 pm and called very quietly to me as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.  We both took a snitch of the edge which was warm, crunchy, buttery and tart from the rhubarb. I shepherded her back up to her room with us both happy that this was our little secret.



So it looks good, but I did find that the texture was different throughout and changed based on when we ate it.  For example, I put the pan in the refrigerator after I let it cool and when the shortbread was cold the pieces tasted, especially the bottom, a little too mushy for my liking.  I brought some squares into the office and those sitting at room temperature have a nice texture.  But I have to say that first snitch out of the oven with that wonderful crunch was the best.  I have frozen a dozen small squares to serve this weekend for dessert for Nathan's First Communion brunch.  Now knowing that they are better at room temp, I will take out the night before and leave them out.  Next time I make this, I will cook for longer, perhaps make the shortbread layers thinner and eat right away so they keep their crunch.


See you later on this month....for sticky buns!