These thin, triangular, crisp, rich
biscuits are thought to date from twelfth-century Edinburgh, and later on to
have been a favourite of Mary, Queen of Scots. There is some dispute over the
name and the recipe: it could derive from the French for little cakes, ‘petites
gatelles’, or from ‘tally’, the word for a cut-out pattern. Writing in 1826
in her book The Cook and Housewife’s Manual, Meg Dodds says, ‘. . . we
rather think the name petticoat tails has its origin in the shape of the cakes,
which is exactly that of the bell-hoop petticoats of our ancient court ladies’,
‘petty cotes’ being a wide panelled skirt. The traditional pattern is made by
cutting a disc in the centre of the shortbread round, then cutting the
surrounding dough into segments.
The recipe is butter-rich and crisp. Caster sugar can be
used instead of icing sugar, and you can use either cornflour or rice flour.
The mixture can be left plain, or flavoured with caraway seeds or a few drops
of almond extract.
You will need
150g unsalted butter, very soft
40g icing sugar
200g plain
flour
50g cornflour caster sugar, for sprinkling
2 baking trays, greased
with butter a 5cm round cutter
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Beat the butter and sugar until light
and creamy, using a wooden spoon or an electric whisk or mixer. Sift the flour
and cornflour on to the mixture and work it in with your hands to make a firm
dough. Knead gently to bring it together (some cooks add a very little milk in
cold weather). Divide the dough in half, and shape each portion into a ball.
Set each one in the middle of a greased baking tray, and gently roll with a rolling
pin, or press out with your hands, to an even circle 18cm across and 5mm thick.
Press in any stray crumbs or cracks, to give an even surface.
Pinch the outside edge of each circle
to decorate. Press the round cutter into the centre of each disc, but do not
remove the circle of dough. With a sharp knife cut the dough around the centre
circle into 8 segments, without cutting into the centre circle.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 18
to 20 minutes, until lightly golden and crisp all over. If necessary, rotate
the trays halfway through the baking time so that the shortbreads cook evenly.
Sprinkle with caster sugar and gently
cut along the marked lines, but leave to cool completely before removing from
the tray. Traditionally, the triangular segments would be served arranged in a
ring, with the centre circle set in the middle.
Store in an airtight container.
For other cool baking stuff check out this.
