Royal recipe: Cardamom and Orange Shortbread

When compiling the Royal Teas cookbook, Royal Chef Mark Flanagan and former Royal Pastry Chef Kathryn Cuthbertson chose recipes that are not only delicious and the perfect mix of wholesome and decadent, but also most importantly seasonable and with easily sourced ingredients. Obtaining certain ingredients can be trickier in the current climate, and we chose to share this recipe with this in mind.

With its origins reputed to date as far back as the 12th century, the popularity of shortbread has not waned. This sweet, buttery biscuit is recognised worldwide as a Scottish delicacy.

This recipe incorporates cardamom and orange to add a delicious citrus flavour to the classic biscuit. Have a go at this simple recipe and share the results by tagging us using @RCT on Twitter and @royalcollectiontrust on Instagram and Facebook.

Ingredients

135g (2/3 cup) unrefined caster sugar

240g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

330g (2½ cups) plain flour, sieved

30g (3 tablespoons) rice flour, sieved

zest of 1 unwaxed orange

10g (1 tablespoon) ground cardamom

Equipment

shortbread mould or plain biscuit cutters

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF, gas mark 4).

Place the softened butter and sugar into a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the orange zest and ground cardamom before carefully folding through the sieved flours. Allow to rest in the refrigerator before rolling on to a lightly floured surface to 0.5 cm thick. Cut out, and gently place on a tray lined with baking paper.

Place on the middle shelf of the preheated oven and bake for approximately 8 minutes. The shortbread will turn a light sandy colour when baked – do not allow the shortbread to become any darker than that. Remove from the oven and carefully place the shortbread on a wire rack to cool, sprinkling with caster sugar immediately.

If baking is not for you, why not skip a step and try one of our range of ready-made shortbreads from our Shop.