The arrival of Easter is the perfect opportunity to get together with family and friends, and food is often a key element in these celebrations. Sarah Rankin’s cookbook Kith is split into seasonal sections, and the spring section contains lots of dishes perfect for an Easter celebration. Our recipe of the week is the delicious St Clement’s shortcake.

St Clement’s shortcake

This is a mix of two recipes belonging to my maternal grandmother, Granny Main. The shortbread comes from her own handwritten notes; the lemon curd from a much-annotated copy of the Highland Housewives’ Cookbook, a collection of recipes sent in to the Highland News Group of newspapers by women (and they were almost exclusively women) from all across the Highlands. It has no publication date but the cover price is 10/-, so we can assume it was prior to
decimalisation in 1971. It is tatty and well loved. The family recipes shared in it for the benefit of those who showed their love through food are obviously well used too, and that brings me immeasurable joy.

Both of these recipes are converted from the original pounds and ounces, hence the funky measurements.

Makes 8-10 shortcakes
16-20 individual biscuits

For the shortbread
226g butter
114g icing sugar
226g plain flour
114g cornflour
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp orange zest

For the lemon curd cream
60g butter
170g caster sugar
2 lemons, juice and zest
1 egg
3 egg yolks
150ml double cream
2 tbsp icing sugar

For the orange curd
60g butter
170g caster sugar
2 lemons, juice and zest
1 egg
3 egg yolks

Begin with the shortbread. Preheat the oven to 150°C (fan). Cream the butter and icing sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth, then sift in the flours and bring the mix together quickly with cold hands.

Roll out to a thickness of about 2cm and cut out rounds with a 5cm-pastry cutter. Chill on a tray for 15 minutes in the fridge – this helps them to keep their shape, as the butter is cold when it goes into the oven. Cook for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Mix the caster sugar and zests together and sprinkle over the biscuits as soon as they come out of the oven. For the lemon curd, put the butter, caster sugar and lemon juice in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Beat the eggs separately and once the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, gently and slowly beat in the eggs. Stir until thickened. This could take up to 10 minutes or so. Pour into sterilised jars and cool. Make the orange curd
in exactly the same way.

For the lemon cream, beat the double cream until thick and add the icing sugar to sweeten. Add 3 tbsp of the lemon curd and mix well. The curd cream should have a thick spreading consistency.

Once the shortbread has cooled, spread orange curd onto half of the shortbread rounds, then sandwich another piped or spread with the lemon cream on top. Dust the tops with more of the zesty sugar.