Magical Baking

OH YES.

Did some proper yummy baking today. I was very unsure of what was going to happen, and even what it was I was cooking really as the recipe I followed was entitled 'Blood Orange Petit Four'. Easy peasy I thought. What I've ended up making, basically, is a kind of shortbread with a light egg/sugar/blood orange spongy bit on top. And icing. I promise you these are bloody delicious. Here's how (sort of) to do it:

Ingredients (shortbread):

225g plain flour
100g icing sugar
180g butter

Ingredients (topping):

Juice of 3 blood oranges
300g sugar
3 eggs
3 tblsp plain flour

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees or there abouts. Mix together the shortbread ingredients. Try as I might with a spoon, I could not combine them and found the only way was to get my hands in. This was curiously satisfying, rub the butter lumps between your fingers until you have a bowl of sweet sand. Pour this into a well-greased tray of your choice, I used a square 9-incher, seemed about right for thickness. Press down until the mixture is pressed evenly. Shove in the oven for around 20 minutes or until golden brown. RESIST URGE TO EAT NOW. Turn is out to cool it down. While it's doing that:

Whisk the eggs, blood orange juice sugar and flour together until frothy (it will still be fairly liquidy). If I was baking this again I would have put a dash of lemon in as I felt they lacked tartness. So if you're feeling tarty splash a bit in. I put some drops of red food colouring in the pink it up. Place the shortbread back in the tray (it doesn't have to be cool through) and pour over the eggy mixture. Stick it back in the oven for another 20-25 minutes. Don't panic if it puffs up in weird places, it will deflate.

Get it out and look at it, wondering what on Earth it is. I cut mine up in the tray as it's un-turn-out-able, as it were. Make some different shapes if you have the inclination. I made squares and triangles but cookie cutters could definitely be employed. Make them small, it's very sweet. Now for the magic. I have no idea if this was supposed to happen (and even know I am questioning my memory) but as I was getting the slices out I was thinking "hmm, where is the eggy stuff?" until I got out my first slice only to realise, with baking shock, that it was now underneath the shortbread?! It had been on top after 12mins in the oven... but there it was, a perfect pink layer beneath a crunchy one. Bizarre. I puzzled over this whilst shovelling bits in my mouth.

Things get really sweet and yummy if you mix some icing sugar with warm water, add a little red dye, and spoon it on top of the slices. Delicious. I was genuinely surprised at how yummy these bites are.

Good luck!

A x