This feels as though it is like shortbread but little lighter, a little more cake like. When my kids tried it we came up with the name shortcake. My recipe is inspired by Gordon Ramsey, he has an immaculate recipe in the Three Star Chef, which is a fantastic, if challenging book in itself.
Sables
2 cups of plain flour
1 packet salted butter, softened
6 egg yolks
1 large pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
Preheat the oven to 190C fan. Mix the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and combine. Sift the dry ingredients together. With a metal spoon, gently fold in the dry ingredients. Do not overwork it as you lose the shortness, that biscuity texture that you want. Lay out some clingfilm and put the mixture into it in a sausage shape, 3 inches thick (ish). Fold over the clingfilm and roll until you have an even round sausage. Put in the fridge for at least half an hour. Get a baking tray with a sheet of silicon on it. Baking parchment will do. To make these thick and perfect you want baking rings that are just larger than the three inch round. This stops the mixture spreading too much as they bake. If you don’t have this, make sure that you leave a good distance between the rounds. Cut the mixture sausage in 2cm thickness and lay on the sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes until a little raised and golden. Take the out, leave for 5 minutes and then put them on a cooling rack. They are ready to use, hot or cold.
Make a quick chocolate sauce. Put the biscuit on a plate. Add a scoop of raspberry ice cream (see next recipe). And add the chocolate sauce.