These shortcakes are more biscuit than cake. Think buttery biscuits or melting moment biscuits meeting a shortbread. The little shortcakes are baked in cupcake liners using a cupcake pan.
These are heavenly treats and the little dollop of jam tucked into the centre of the buttery biscuit is absolutely delicious! Use any jam that you want.
As wonderful as these are to eat and pretty easy to to whip up, the piping needs some wrist and finger grease. The batter is quite firm and squeezing the dough out the bag does require patience and some effort. So be prepared for a little workout. Use a strong piping bag and don’t overfill the bag. Filling the piping bag with a small amount of dough makes it easier to handle
I have tried to use a spoon and dollop a teaspoon of dough into the cupcake liner casings, but eventually I had to use the tips of my fingers to create a tart-shell like appearance. You can try that but patience is still needed. I would advise using a strong piping bag with a large star nozzle and slowly and patiently piping circles. This is a thick dough. The piping doesn’t have to be perfect. But the use of the piping bag does allow for each shortcake to have a little hollow in the centre which then provides a little nest for the blob of jam.
A little bit of work but so worth it.
Ingredients
Makes 12 -14 shortcakes
- 225 g soft butter
- 75 g sifted icing sugar
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 50 g cornflour
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 – 5 TB jam
- 1 tsp of icing sugar to sift over shortcakes.
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- In a mixing bowl, using an electric beater, beat butter till pale and creamy.
- Add sifted icing sugar and vanilla and beat till pale, smooth and fluffy.
- Add flours and salt and mix till combined.
- Prepare a pastry/piping bag by attaching a large star nozzle.
- Slowly pipe a circle of dough in each liner.
- Pipe another ring of dough over the first circle, keeping to the outer regions of the cupcake liner. There should be a small hole or indentation in the middle of each shortcake.
- Bake for 10- 12 minutes till light golden.
- Leave to cool for a few minutes.
- Add a dollop of jam in the centre of each shortcake.
- Sprinkle over a light dusting of icing sugar.
