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Monday 17 October 2011

Roasted Almond Shortbread

Just had the most amazing trip to Sydney with my mum, we definitely shopped till we dropped. I loved the quant coffee shops around the Rocks and the superb shopping in Paddington. 
On our last day we went for a stroll around Darling Harbour, and stopped at the Lindt Cafe. Since 1845, Lindt has been producing the worlds finest chocolates. We could not resist buying some of their hand made chocolates,  which we knew would not last the trip home, and they didn't!   
These almond shortbread have been filled with this gorgeous chocolate, they just melt in your mouth.

Roasted Almond Shortbread
100g butter,unsalted
55g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
70g almond meal
140g plain flour
150g Lindt chocolate
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk.

Preheat oven to 170 degrees
Combine butter, sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and mix until pale
Add egg yolk and mix in well
In a separate bowl combine almond meal and flour
On a low speed mix in almond mixture into the butter mix until just combined
Place shortbread dough in cling film and place in the fridge for 10min
Use 100g of the chocolate and cut each square in half and put aside
On a floured surface roll out shortbread to 3mm thick
Cut into rectangles 4cm wide 7cm long
Place one piece of chocolate onto rectangle and wrap with the shortbread. Make sure the chocolate is visible on both sides
Place shortbread on a lined tray and brush with the egg wash and back until golden brown(20min)
Allow to fully cool
To decorate, gently melt the rest of the chocolate and drizzle over the shortbread
Allow to set and will keep in a sealed container for one week.

This mixture can also be used to make plain almond shortbread, just use 1 tablespoon of the mixture and roll into a ball, place onto the baking tray, use a folk to press down to slightly flatten.