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| TwD….Hungarian Shortbread |
Welcome to Tuesdays with Dorie! This week's recipe was for Hungarian Shortbread. I’ve been looking forward to this recipe because, I love shortbread. It’s an all time favorite, I started making it for my children, when they were very young. It was always there for an after-school snack. The recipe was shared with me by a neighbor from Scotland. Traditional Scottish shortbread calls for three ingredients and I always had them on hand. Flour, sugar and butter….what could be easier? That’s what I thought when I started this recipe for TwD. I’m half Hungarian and had never heard of Hungarian shortbread. My Hungarian grandmother was one of the best bakers I’ve ever known. She made homemade strudel from scratch, with pastry that she pulled so thin you could see through it! So I was ready!
The recipe for this shortbread was very easy to put together... beating the butter, eggs and sugar in your mixer until sugar is dissolved and batter is light and fluffy. Then add the flour mixture. Remove the dough to your work surface and cut it in half. Wrap each piece individually and place into the freezer for thirty minutes. Ok…that was the easy part! Now comes the part that in all my years of baking, I had never heard of. The technique for this shortbread was to grate…that’s right…grate the dough into the baking dish! My first thoughts were, I must have read this wrong! Nope not wrong…are you kidding…really? Supposedly, grating the dough gives the shortbread a more cake-like texture. So I thought, a great way to grate the dough would be in my food processor. It wasn’t!! After 24 long years of service this dough took down my processor. So I did what I should’ve done in the first place…grate the dough with my box grater!
Since my rhubarb isn’t ready to pick yet, I used my stash of strawberry rhubarb jam from last summer. I thought these bars a bit sweet, I should have used the jam more sparingly.
However, these bars were delicious and, I will be freezing the rest of them to ensure I don’t overdose on them! My grandchildren will really enjoy these on their next visit. Happy May Day everyone!
The recipe for Hungarian shortbread from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking with Julia” cookbook, has been posted on this week’s host pages: fellow ffwD member Cher at The Not So Exciting Adventures of a Dabbler or Lynette of 1smallkitchen.
To see how the other members of Tuesdays with Dorie prepared this shortbread, please click here.
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| Grating dough with a hand held box grater….really? |
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| The blade carrier from my 24 year old food processor….this is what happened when I tried to take a short cut…guess it’s time for a new one! |
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| Bottom crust grated in place |
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| Strawberry Rhubarb Jam from last summer |
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| Jam spread and top crust being put on |
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| Just out of the oven |
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| Sprinkled heavily with powdered sugar |
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| Tea anyone? |
Wasn´t this perfect with a cup of tea?! Your tea set is beautiful
ReplyDeleteA grandmother who actually made Strudel dough from scratch - wow, I am indeed jealous - you know what they say - the Strudel dough should be pulled out so thin "that you can read a love letter through it - I love that saying...Back to your lovely pictures of the Hungarian Shortbread: looks absolutely delicious with that homemade strawberry rhubarb jam and the tae service with the pretty flowers is just perfect! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteThis looks so good!! I have not blogged but once this year...my husband was wanting to loose some weight (he lost 28 poounds)! It is so hard to bake when you are a empty nester! But I do enjoy reading your posts!
Kendra
Kathy-Our grandmothers must have been related! My Hungarian grandmother also made strudel by stretching the dough on a large floured white table cloth, and walking around the table stretching, and rolling it, until it was paper thin. I do remember it very well watching her do this when I was a young child...never forgot!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, I have not heard of this pastry being called shortbread, and certainly do not remember grating the dough! So sorry about your food processor broken in the process. Although, I do remember the flaky, buttery pastry filled with jam, just like that! Your homemade jam is beautiful, just as your hard worked pastry! Yumm:DDD
Such pretty dishes :-)
ReplyDeleteI pulled straw-rhu jam from my cupboard as well - this was such a lovely treat to use it up on.
Lovely job, as always.
My mother would love those dishes and the shortbread looks lovely, too!
ReplyDeleteJust gorgeous, Kathy! I love your tea set. I agree, these were a bit sweet, but delicious. Too bad about your food processor, but it had a good run! I'm so impressed by your homemade jam!
ReplyDeleteKathy, Your tea set is beautiful. I agree that this is just perfect with a cup of tea. I had a friend over on Sunday to share tea and Hungarian shortbread. Wish you could have joined us!
ReplyDeleteThat would have been lovely!
DeleteReally yummy looking!
ReplyDeleteMine are in the freezer, too, Kathy...and I hate to tell you, but they taste darn good frozen, too! Sorry about your food processor...yikes!
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of Hungarian shortbread either. But I have to say it was tasty. Yours looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely lovely. This is the second post I have read about the food processor breaking!
ReplyDeleteYes, please, I will have a cup of tea and a big slice of the shortbread :) Looks great!
ReplyDeleteJust shortbread perfection, Kathy. Loving this with the jam (and I could play with the backyard rhubarb).
ReplyDeleteKathy thanks for visiting my blog and your shortbread looks fabulous. I like how your blog is laid out too.
ReplyDeleteLisa
Looks lovely!
ReplyDeleteI love your dishes and your shortbread looks perfect! I'm sorry about your food processor :(
ReplyDeleteThis delicious dish was made in a nontraditional way. But I loved it because I don't always get along with my rolling pin. Will your food processor survive or is it time to go shopping??
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.
It was the carrier blade holder that snapped and I think after all this time (with weekly use) the plastic was brittle and gave in. I have grated hard cheeses many times with no problems…so it’s time for a new one. This dough should have been no problem. Anyone have any suggestions. I’m leaning towards the Cuisinart but the Kitchen Aid is also is a contender.
DeleteSo sorry to hear about the death of your food processor...mine struggled on the 1st half of the dough that was not frozen as hard, but the second half was a breeze. The cold but not frozen dough just kept jamming up the processor and I almost gave up...mine would have died too, I'm sure. I like all your powdered sugar...I should have added more. Fun to learn these new techniques and I was wondering about the Hungarian part??? I doubt most of those people had in home freezers when this recipe was written...maybe American Hungarian. I could see you inventing a recipe like this!
ReplyDeletelook great, this is one of my childhood treat
ReplyDeletemom only used homemade apricot jam.... i did
try the same dough with some fresh herbs with
different jams and it was so great.....
Yes, I would absolutely love to sit down at your table and have tea with you, Kathy! Your tea service is so lovely and your shortbread is beautiful. I'm sorry about what happened to your food processor. I thought it was a great idea to use it, but I opted to grate instead.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what my daughter has been asking me to bake for her so this is going into my dessert file. Grating the dough? And look at what it did to your processor? Wow. But...now you have a Hungarian traditional dish to pass on to your grandchildren. Oh, you sound like such a wonderful grandmother.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the food processor. A lot of other bloggers seemed to try that method as well. Great post!
ReplyDeleteOh Kathy, your Post read too much like mine. I was in Bundapest last Fall and never glimpsed nor tasted Hugarian Shortbread. I loved the grating technique and, in all my years of cooking, had never heard of that. Box grater - old-fashion but always at-the-ready. I used organic blueberry preserves but wish I had a little of your strawberry-rhubarb jam for my toast this morning. I will make this again with less sugar, less butter, and will pre-bake the bottom layer of dough before adding the filling and top shredded layer. And, my shortbread is packed securely in a cookie tin, in the freezer, ready to serve at my grandaughter's 9th bithday party in two weeks. Nice Post.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it! They were delicious.
ReplyDeleteHow great that you put strawberry jam!!! Btw, I really love the plates you used!!
ReplyDeleteNow you have me thinking I need to crack open that cookbook. I do not remember anything like this. Of course, the book may not have such a stunning picture. I have seen that grated dough technique, but have never tried it. Very inspiring post and well executed recipe!
ReplyDeleteI love shortbread too. One of the other cookies I made that day was Ina Garten's shortbread dipped in chocolate. I preferred this. Your looks beautiful and I love the plate.
ReplyDeleteYour experience sounds a lot more serene than mine! :) Your shortbread looks beautiful on that dainty plate!
ReplyDeletewow..looks super tempting ..excellent presentation
ReplyDeletenew to your space
lovely space you have
happy following you..:)
do stop by mine sometime
Tasty Appetite
Kathy, you have the prettiest shortbread on equally pretty plates - I just love these photos. Can I come to tea?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! It would be such fun to have a bloggers tea party!
DeleteNow I'm really wondering why these are called Hungarian?? I too, love shortbread and the texture of this one was really delicious. My husband has asked me never to make it again :) Glad I halved the recipe. Your tea service is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThose look gorgeous all dressed up and lounging on that beautiful plate! They look so innocent and yet that damaged FP lets me know otherwise! Yep, time for a new one. We loved these cookies...love your choice of filling...makes them so pretty, too.
ReplyDeleteI would love to join you for a cup of tea Kathy! The shortbread looks mouthwatering and I would be very much enjoying your company!
ReplyDeleteHello my friend! I wish to say that this article is amazing, nice written and include almost all important infos. I would like to see more posts like this .
ReplyDeleteOh no! That's too bad about your food processor.
ReplyDeleteLove your photos of the finished product. These are perfect for tea.
I am so sorry to hear about your food processor! But a new one will be fun! This recipe was a big hit with us also, so yummy!
ReplyDelete