Daniel loved his shortbread biscuits (cookies for the Yanks). It is a blend of cultures, Irish and Trinidadian, to produce a buttery, sweet and savory treat.
Currant and Carraway Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1⁄2 cup of dried currants
- 4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
- 1⁄4 cup sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, more for flouring paper
- 1⁄8 teaspoon or pinch of fine sea salt
- 1⁄2 finely diced crystallized ginger
- 1 tablespoon whole caraway seeds
Instructions
- Steep currants in hot water or warmed brandy for 7–10 minutes. Drain on paper towel. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In your mixer, cream butter and sugar together at medium speed until light and smooth. This should be about 2–3 minutes.
- Add all dry ingredients along with currants, ginger, and caraway seeds. Mix well until blended. This should take about 3 minutes.
- Gather the dough into a ball.
- On a lightly floured piece of parchment (or floured fancy nonstick baking mat), place the dough and roll out to 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch thick. Make it even.
- Refrigerate for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- With a pizza cutter or sharp knife or large biscuit die, cut out shapes. I usually do triangles or circles.
- Lay these on a parchment-covered baking sheet and bake 12–15 minutes or until edges are lightly golden.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer shortbread to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- You can store these in airtight containers up to 1 week or freeze for year-round goodness.
AN EARL, THE GIRL AND A TODDLER
Surviving a shipwreck en route to London from Jamaica was just the start of Jemina St. Maur’s nightmare. Suffering from amnesia, she was separated from anyone who might know her, and imprisoned in Bedlam. She was freed only because barrister Daniel Thackery, Lord Ashbrook, was convinced to betray the one thing he holds dear: the law. Desperate to unearth her true identity, Jemina’s only chance is to purloin dangerous secrets with help from The Widow’s Grace—which means staying steps ahead of the formidable Daniel, no matter how strongly she is drawn to him . . .
Married only by proxy, now widowed by shipwreck, Daniel is determined to protect his little stepdaughter, Hope, from his family’s scandalous reputation. That’s why he has dedicated himself not just to the law, but to remaining as proper, upstanding—and boring—as can be. But the closer he becomes to the mysterious, alluring Jemina, the more Daniel is tempted to break the very rule of law to which he’s devoted his life. And as ruthless adversaries close in, will the truth require him, and Jemina, to sacrifice their one chance at happiness?
(Reprinted with permission from Kensington Books)
