Nutmeg, with its intense, spicy flavour, is often reserved for the bread sauce at Christmas. If yours lives in a dusty spice jar at the back of your cupboard, treat yourself to a whole nutmeg. Simply rub the nut over the fine side of a grater and enjoy the nose-tickling aroma. These caramelised, buttery, crumbly squares will have you licking your fingers and chasing sugary crumbs around your plate.
Makes 20
unsalted butter 230g
light brown sugar 80g
caster sugar 80g
fine sea salt ½ tsp
plain flour 250g
fine semolina 80g
nutmeg 2 tsp, grated, plus extra
demerara sugar 50g
Bringing butter to a frothing, foaming boil for a couple of minutes caramelises the milk solids and adds a nutty, butterscotch flavour to your baking. Consider doing this whenever a recipe calls for melted butter – just remember that the boiling process causes water in the butter to evaporate, so you may need to balance this reduction with other ingredients.
Have a heavy-duty plastic or ceramic heatproof mixing bowl at the ready for your butter to be tipped into – lightweight plastic bowls melt. The bowl will cool the butter down quickly once it’s the perfect caramel colour – a minute or two longer in the pan can cause it to blacken and become bitter.
Place the butter in a medium-sized pan and bring to the boil. Allow it to bubble fiercely for 5-8 minutes, scraping the bottom with a spatula regularly. When it starts to smell sweet and nutty and the boiling foam rises up in the pan, pour the hot liquid (including the brown flecks and scrapings from the bottom) into the bowl. Cool, stirring occasionally as it firms up.
Weigh the sugars and the salt into a bowl, add the cooled butter and gently beat until smooth. Add the flour, semolina and nutmeg and beat briefly only until the mix comes together and clears the sides of the bowl. Do not overmix.
Tip into a greased and lined 23cm x 23cm x 5cm square baking tin and press gently with your fingertips to cover the base of the tin evenly. Use a fork to prick the shortbread all over, then chill for 30 minutes or up to 1 day.
Preheat the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 6.
Grate nutmeg over the surface, then sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes, turning the tin after 15 minutes, until pale golden. Cool in the tin before cutting into 20 pieces.
From Two Magpies Bakery by Rebecca Bishop (Headline Publishing Group, £26). To order a copy for £22.88 go to guardianbookshop.com
