Afternoon Tea Series – Lavender Shortbread

I love lavender and when my good friend Barbara gave me a big jar of Waitrose lavender sugar I couldn’t wait to use it.  Consequently it stayed in my cupboard for a good few months before I decided what to use it for!

Lavender Shortbread – some have been painted with a french glace icing to create a nice sheen.  Others are sprinkled with lavender sugar.

Lavender embodies that afternoon tea in the garden feeling and when The Mill and myself decided to hold an afternoon tea classical recital this was the first recipe I knew without a doubt I wanted to bake.

Difficulty – Easy

Claire’s Lavender Shortbread

125g lavender sugar

225g unsalted butter softened

300g plain flour

50g semolina

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/Gas 4.

1. Line two baking trays with non stick baking paper.
2. Pour the sugar into a bowl and butter in a mixing bowl and cream together.
3. Sift the flour and ground rice into the mixture and mix until it looks like breadcrumbs.
4. Using floured hands bring the mixture together to form a dough.
5. Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently until smooth. Pop the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up and rest.
6. Roll the dough out to a about ¼in thickness, and cut out biscuits using a round cutter. Place the shapes onto the baking trays, and sprinkle with a little extra sugar.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Carefully place the biscuits onto a cooling rack., sprinkle with extra lavender sugar and set aside to cool completely.
8. While cooling whisk up a small batch of buttercream and dye the buttercream with a touch of violet gel food colouring.
9. Once the biscuits are cool you can sandwich them carefully together and pipe a small rose on the top using a small star tip and starting from the inside and piping out.

Lavender Sugar

Roll your dough out and cut your shapes.

Put carefully onto a buttered tray and sprinkle with sugar

Pipe your buttercream onto one side of a cooked biscuit and sandwich with another. Pipe a small rose on top and sprinkle with sugar. Alternatively make up some glace icing and drizzle over the top.

Related articles

• Afternoon Tea Menu … (bakewithclaire.wordpress.com)
• Lavender Cupcackes (mymaltiegsbaking.wordpress.com)
• The simply splendid afternoon tea menu, Part 1 (splendidafternoonteas.wordpress.com)