Shortbread Shortcuts

I ran across this recipe for Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread at Smitten Kitchen. The pictures and description were gorgeous and so, with a dinner party to attend tonight, I decided to make the recipe.

When I bake, I like to keep things simple. Since shortbread is little more than butter, sugar, and flour it more than qualifies as simple! Since I’ll be sharing these cookies with a group, I decided to make them as appealing to a wide range of tastes as possible. So I omitted the espresso and used 1 Tablespoon of water instead. I also used mini chocolate chips.

The original recipe asks you to put the dough in a gallon-size plastic bag and press it into a rectangle. Then you let the dough chill, cut into squares and bake. I didn’t happen to have a Ziploc bag this big, so I decided to make a log of dough using a large piece of plastic wrap. Just drop the dough in, use the plastic to help shape it into a long rectangle, wrap, and press on the sides to help it square up.

After it has chilled, slice into 1/2″ slices. I could probably have cut these rectangles in half and ended up with more, smaller cookies. They are so rich and delicious that a person would probably be better off with a few smaller cookies and a nice cup of coffee or refreshing glass of milk!

I baked these for abotu 15 minutes, then checked them every 2-3 minutes until they started to brown around the edges. It’s hard to tell with shortbread; there’s no baking soda or powder, so they don’t grow during baking.

All in all, this was a simple recipe which yielded delicious results.

It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye…

After much research, thought, and deliberation, I have decided not to pursue my cake business at this time.  It is simply too big a pursuit for me at this point in my life.  It’s a big decision to go into business, one that I could not go into lightly.  The decision to back away was not an easy one; I have attached my identity to this dream for so long that without it I’m not sure what to do.  But letting go of old dreams makes room for new ones, and I trust that they will come true.

I will continue to make cakes for family and friends for the pure pleasure of it, not for profit.  This blog will serve as my portfolio and journal of all things baking and food related.  I hope that you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed creating what’s in them.

Here are some cupcakes I made last weekend for a Red Sox fan:

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing and rolled fondant decorations