Custard Shortbread
It's Cookie O'Clock! A new tea-time series from baker and food stylist Katie Smith
ROSIE : Katie Smith, or the Angel of the North of Ireland as she is affectionately known to me, knows good cookies. She is an exceptionally talented baker-chef-food stylist multihyphenate. She is also a great recipe writer, and has recently had exceptional work published in Vittles, the best food publication on this platform, in my honest opinion. So I feel like it is a real coup to have her writing for the Dinner Party a little series on cookies, because isn’t that all something we needed? There are very few cookie/biscuit recipes on here already because it simply isn’t a strength of my cooking. So it is glorious that Katie is here to show us the ropes. Her first episode - a Custard Shortbread. Yeah, I think we can all get on board with that.
KATIE : Hello! I’m Katie, a chef/ food stylist from Ireland based in London. I started my career at a local bakery in Derry, Ireland, baking multiple rainbow cakes and soda breads. Since moving to London, I’ve worked on the sweet and savoury side at some of the best restaurants and bakeries the city has to offer like e5 Bakehouse and Spring. Now as a freelancer, a day in my life could involve roasting multiple meats for a book shoot followed by an evening of decorating a wedding cake or deep frying over 500 chicken fillets for a catering job with an evening of recipe development. I also have a pop up bakery, Dulse, with events across London showcasing the delicious bakes of Ireland.
One thing you must know about me (maybe it’s obvious?) is my love of sugar. In particular, cookies. I’ve probably made thousands over the years and have eaten too much cookie dough to admit to. I am delighted to be sharing three biscuit recipes, perfect for your dinner party dessert plate, afternoon tea or morning coffee. On the menu we have a custard shortbread, a malt chocolate chip cookie and a ginger & oat cookie. Each biscuit is a nod to the classics we all know and love shortbread, malted milks and gingersnaps. Consider it time for Cookie O’Clock!
Custard Shortbread (Makes 12 biscuits)
Growing up, a Sunday evening normally featured custard. The well loved pyrex jug used for gravy with a roast dinner was quickly washed up and filled with custard for dessert. Bird custard powder was always sitting in our cupboard, ready for any occasion it needed to accompany. Creme anglaise, never heard of it! No need to separate eggs and temper yolks, all we needed was custard powder and the microwave. A soup bowlful of custard with sliced banana to top or an apple crumble with custard on the side, there was nothing better.