These sweet treats are based on British teatime favourites, but with surprising flavour twists. The shortbread is laced with cardamom, pistachios and browned butter for a more complex flavour and texture that’s somewhat reminiscent of Indian barfi. The loaf cake, meanwhile, is based on a lemon and poppyseed cake, swapping the lemon for lime, poppy seeds for sesame, and adding toasted coconut for a perfectly balanced cake with freshness and nuttiness.
Pistachio, white chocolate and cardamom millionaire’s shortbread
This reminds me of being a kid at the supermarket, eyeing up all the freshly made treats in the bakery aisle. Millionaire’s shortbread always caught my eye, because of all of those fascinating layers, so here I’ve put all of my favourite flavours inside – brown butter, cardamom and pistachio – to create a nutty, spiced treat. I’ve gone for white chocolate ganache over plain white chocolate, too, so it’s not sickly sweet alongside the caramel.
Prep 20 min
Cook 40 min
Chill 55 min+
Makes 36
For the dough
170g unsalted butter, cubed
21 cardamom pods (to get 2 tsp ground powder)
¼ tsp sea salt
75g cornflour
75g plain flour
45g wholemeal spelt flour (or plain flour)
75g icing sugar
50g roasted and chopped pistachio kernels
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
For the caramel
75g dark brown soft sugar
75g unsalted butter
200g condensed milk
½ tsp salt
50g roasted and chopped pistachios
For the white chocolate ganache
180g white chocolate, finely chopped
60ml double cream
20g roasted and chopped pistachio kernels, to garnish
Melt the butter in a large saucepan on a medium-low heat, stirring continuously, for about 10 minutes, until it froths vigorously and brown solids appear. Take off the heat, still stirring, then pour into a bowl. Weigh the melted butter and top up with regular butter, if necessary (this will also melt), so you have 150g. Set aside.
Toast the cardamom pods in a dry frying pan on a low heat, stirring, for about 10 minutes, until fragrant. Tip into a mortar, bash to release the seeds, then discard the husks and grind the seeds to a fine powder.
In a large bowl, whisk the cardamom, salt, cornflour, plain and wholemeal flour, icing sugar and 50g pistachios. Stir the vanilla into the cooled butter, then slowly pour this into the dry ingredients, mixing just until it comes together into a dough. Press this into a lined 20cm square baking tin, and chill for 10 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Bake the shortbread for 25 minutes, then transfer to a rack and leave in the tin to cool completely.
In a heavy-based pan, combine the brown sugar and butter for the caramel and melt, stirring, on a low heat. Add the condensed milk and bring to a boil, stirring continuously for about a minute, until the mix thickens to a deep caramel. Stir in the salt and 50g pistachios, then transfer to a bowl.
Pour the caramel over the cooled biscuit and smooth out the top. Chill for 45 minutes to an hour, to set.
To make the ganache, put the chocolate in a bowl and gently heat the double cream in a saucepan until steaming. Pour the cream over the chocolate, leave for 30 seconds, then slowly stir with a spatula, starting from the inside, until melted and combined. Pour the ganache over the set caramel and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle over the remaining pistachios and return to the fridge for 10 minutes. Cut into bite-sized pieces, and tuck in.
Lime, coconut and sesame cake
This is my take on the classic lemon loaf cake, except that I’ve changed almost every single ingredient – and with good reason. There’s something about lime that just provides an extra fresh and sharp flavour as opposed to the standard lemon. That’s balanced by the rich, nutty flavours of coconut and sesame. The black sesame seeds add a lovely visual element (think of them as a step up from poppy seeds), but if you can’t get your hands on any, white will also do – you just won’t have that speckled crumb.
Prep 20 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 10
For the sponge
50g desiccated coconut, plus extra to decorate
3 tbsp black sesame seeds, plus extra to decorate
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
Zest of 3 limes, plus extra to decorate
25g coconut oil, melted
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
¼ tsp coconut extract (optional)
3 eggs
100ml coconut cream, at room temperature
160g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine sea salt
For the lime icing
100g icing sugar
Juice of 2 limes
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and line a 22cm x 11cm x 6cm loaf tin with baking paper.
Toast the desiccated coconut and sesame seeds in a dry frying pan on a low heat for five to seven minutes, until golden, then tip into a bowl and set aside.
Beat the butter in a bowl until soft and creamy – a stand mixer works best here to beat in enough air. In a separate bowl, rub the sugar and lime zest using your fingers, which will release the oils from the zest and create a lovely citrus aroma, and turn the sugar green. Add the zesty sugar mix to the butter, and beat until combined, every so often scraping down the sides with a spatula.
Add the coconut oil and beat until pale and fluffy (about seven minutes in a stand mixer), then add the vanilla and coconut extract, if using, and beat again. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in each one until fully incorporated before adding the next.
Melt the coconut cream in a microwave for 10–15 seconds, until smooth but not hot. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, then whisk to combine. Using a spatula, fold the dry mix into the batter in three parts until no streaks remain, alternating with the coconut cream – don’t overmix. Fold in the toasted coconut and sesame seeds until well dispersed.
Pour the batter into the lined tin, level with a spatula, then bake for about 50 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin before transferring to a wire rack.
While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Put the icing sugar in a bowl and add the lime juice bit by bit, until it’s thick but runny. Once the cake is cool, use a spoon to drizzle the icing over the top, then sprinkle with the extra coconut and sesame seeds, and lime zest. Leave to stand for 10 minutes so the icing firms up slightly, then slice and serve.
This is an edited extract from Flavour Kitchen: Vibrant Recipes with Creative Twists, by Crystelle Pereira, published by Kyle Books at £22. To order a copy for £19.36, visit guardianbookshop.com
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