Fortnum's Shortbread with Lebovitz Chocolate Sauce

Okay it's confession time, I utterly love Period films and tv shows. So naturally, I (along with a million other viewers) cannot get enough of Downton Abbey. It has been 7 grueling months since the last episode and I am getting antsy waiting for season three to commence. In the meantime I have been spending all my waking hours over at Downton Abbey Cooks. A website dedicated to Period cooking? Fantastic!

I was quite excited when I came across this shortbread recipe on Downton Abbey Cooks. I mean, who doesn't love shortbread? And a recipe courtesy of shortbread extraordinare, Fortnum & Mason tea house in London. Well that was just begging for me to try out.

Of course no shortbread is complete without some chocolate sauce on the side. And who better to consult for a dessert recipe than David Lebovitz? I searched "David Lebovitz chocolate sauce" and sure enough a recipe popped up. If you like your chocolate rich, dark and complex then this is the for you. If not, you're better off grabbing a bottle of weak sauce chocolate syrup from your local supermarket.

 

 

 

Fortnum's Classic Shortbread

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup caster sugar plus extra to sprinkle
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup rice flour

1. Prehead oven to 300F, lightly butter or line a 9 inch square pan
2. Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted flour and rice flour, use wooden spoon to work all ingredients together. Do not over knead.
3. Press mixture into pan. Use the back of a knife to score the batter into 18 fingers. Prick each one with a fork.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven and score again. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 30 minutes till mixture is set.
5. Score again and sprinkle with light dusting of sugar. Shortbread should break along scored lines.
6. Cool shortbread on wire rack and store in airtight container. (Recipe slightly adjusted from original)

 

 

 

Lebovitz's Chocolate Sauce

1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup agave nectar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz semisweet chocolate

1. In medium saucepan mix together water, sugar, agave nectar and cocoa powder.
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in chopped chocolate till melted.
3. Let chocolate sauce stand for a few hours to thicken before serving. Store in refrigerator for up to 10 days. (Recipe slightly adjusted from original)

Altoid Brownies With A Hint Of Sea Salt

I am an avid fan of David Lebovitz so when I came across his recipe for Altoid Brownies I knew I had to make them. These brownies are rich and fudgey with a hint of mint and sea salt. I usually use box mixes since I find them no different to brownies made from scratch. With David Lebovitz recipe, these brownies turned out fudgey and gooey without leaving that sickly film in your mouth you sometimes get with chocolate. It might be due to the mint counterbalancing the sweetness, or that the recipe calls for melted chocolate along with cocoa, but most likely it's because David Lebovitz is a baking rockstar. No more box-mixes for me.

Ingredients list

Crush Altoids or any other type of mint into fine powder.

Melt chocolate and butter over simmering water till chocolate is smooth and glossy.

Gently fold the dry ingredients with the melted chocolate mixture. Do not overmix. 

Gooey, fudgey, minty and tasty. 

Altoid Brownies with a hint of Sea Salt

Ingredients
1 teaspoon sea salt (I like use coarse sea salt that's moderately crushed) 
1 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dark, unsweetened cocoa powder 
1/2 cup (120g) packed dark brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pure mint extract
1 to 1½ packages of Altoid peppermints, (80-120g), crushed into powder. 


Method
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking pan with foil and grease with butter or cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl over pan of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt and cocoa powder.
4. Once chocolate is melted and smooth, whisk in both sugars over simmering water.
5. Remove from heat, cool slightly and whisk in three eggs completely then whisk in the other two along with vanilla.
6. Sprinkle the flour mixture and crushed Altoids over the top and gently fold the dry ingredients in with a spatula until just combined; there might be a trace of flour in places. Do not overmix.
7. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes (David Lebovitz calls for 30 minutes, but I like to under bake my brownies).
8. Store brownies in air-tight container. These brownies are best consumed the next day.

Note
1. Best way to crush Altoids is to place in ziplock bag and hammer with a rolling pin etc. Warning: this is very therapeutic and addicting.
2. Feel free to experiment with any other type of mint or flavouring. My next batch will be with chili powder.

Recipe adapted from davidlebovitz.com