Aunt Mary Glen's Shortbread
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- The story of shortbread begins with the medieval biscuit bread. Any leftover dough from bread making was dried out in a low oven until it hardened into a type of rusk: the word biscuit means twice cooked. Gradually the yeast in the bread was replaced by butter, and biscuit bread developed into shortbread.
Shortbread was an expensive luxury and for ordinary people, shortbread was a special treat reserved just for special occasions such as weddings, Christmas and New Year. In Shetland, it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a new bride on the threshold of her new home. The custom of eating shortbread at New Year has its origins in the ancient pagan Yule Cakes that symbolised the sun. In Scotland, it is still traditionally offered to "first footers" at New Year.
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Wow!! I made these on sunday and they were absolutely lovely. My first attempt at making shortbread over a year ago was a total flop. But this recipe was easy to follow and the end result was Perfection!!
by Jazza40 on Wed May 11 2011 reply to this comment