A Valentines Day Special! Baking Mad Monday: Scottish Shortbread

Valentines Day is just around the corner! Here's some inspiration for you, my crisp, buttery shortbread stacked with strawberries and fresh coulis. Yum! Here's the full recipe:

Serves 4

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter, chilled
250g plain flour
100g golden icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the coulis

300g raspberries
300g strawberries
2 tbsp golden icing sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
To serve

Extra strawberries, to decorate
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. In a bowl place the butter and sieved flour and work the mixture with your fingertips to form crumbs. Make a well and add the sieved icing sugar, the egg yolks and the vanilla extract.

3. Mix the ingredients together until combined then form into dough. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

4. Lightly dust the work surface with some flour and roll out the pastry to 5mm thick. Using a fluted pastry cutter cut out 12 discs (3 discs per serving) and lay them onto the lined baking tray. Prick the pastry with a fork and bake for 10 minutes. Once cooked and golden, remove from the oven and leave to cool.

5. For the coulis, put the raspberries and strawberries into a food processor, add the icing sugar and the lemon juice and process until puréed. Pass it through a sieve into a bowl. Halve the strawberries, add into the coulis and gently fold in, coating them well.

6. On a serving plate place a shortbread and arrange some strawberries on the shortbread. Top with another shortbread and repeat with strawberries and finally finishing with a shortbread on the top.

7. Dust with icing sugar, spoon some coulis around the shortbread stack and garnish with more fresh strawberries.

Hope you get lucky in the kitchen this Valentines Day!

Eric Lanlard xxx