9

168 GOURMET TRAVELLER

Olive oil shortbreads

MAKES20-22 // PREP TIME 10 MINS // COOK 25 MINS(PLUS CHILLING, COOLING, SETTING)

“These rustic shortbread biscuits drizzled with lemon icing really pop with the addition of the

lemon thyme,” says Koludrovic. “A fruity olive oil, something with a citrusy punch and preferably

one from Puglia, complements the savoury, oaty flavour of wholemeal flour. Make a double batch

• ice half for the kids and keep the rest plain for the adults.”Pictured p161.

180 gm plain flour

170 gm wholemeal flour

110 gm raw caster sugar

1 tsp lemon thyme, plus extra

to serve

130 gm butter, at room

temperature

90 ml olive oil

2 egg yolks

LEMON ICING

2 tbsp lemon juice

Finely grated rind

of 1 lemon

200 gm pure icing sugar, sifted

1 Combine flours, sugar, lemon

thyme and ¼ tsp flaked sea

salt in a bowl. Rub in butter with

your fingertips until it resembles

coarse breadcrumbs. Combine

oil and yolks in a bowl, then

add to flour mixture and work

into a dough by hand.

Halve dough and roll each

piece in baking paper to

form 2 logs, twist ends and

refrigerate until firm (1 hour).

2 Preheat oven to 150°C

and line baking trays with

baking paper. Cut logs into

8mm-thick slices and bake

on trays until golden brown

(20-25 minutes). Cool

completely on trays.

3 For lemon icing, stir

ingredients in a bowl until

smooth and combined.

Dip, drizzle or spoon over

shortbread, scatter with extra

lemon thyme and leave to set

(10-12 minutes) before serving.

Olive oil shortbreads will keep

for up to a week stored in an

airtight container.●

Olive oil spray, for greasing

200 gm softened butter

200 gm caster sugar

Finely grated rind of

3 lemons

200 gm almond meal

100 gm fine polenta

1½ tsp baking powder

3 eggs

LEMON SYRUP

75 ml lemon juice

(from about 2 lemons)

75 gm (⅓ cup) caster sugar

MASCARPONE FROSTING

150 gm mascarpone

150 gm thickened cream

Finely grated rind

of 1 lemon

Scraped seeds from

1 vanilla bean

CANDIED PISTACHIO NUTS

50 gm pistachio nuts

2 tbsp simple sugar syrup

(see cook’s notes p176)

1 Preheat oven 170°C. Grease

ten 5cm metal ring moulds (see

note) and line with baking paper,

ensuring paper is twice as high

as the moulds (cakes will rise

quite a lot). Beat butter, sugar

and lemon rind in an electric

mixer fitted with the paddle

attachment on low speed until

smooth, being careful not to

aerate mixture (2-3 minutes).

Mix almond meal, polenta and

baking powder in a bowl, then

beat 2 tbsp polenta mixture into

butter mixture. Add eggs one at

a time, beating to incorporate

between additions, then fold in

remaining polenta mixture.

Transfer batter to a piping bag

fitted with a wide, plain nozzle

and pipe into moulds to just

below the lip. Bake until golden,

well risen and firm to touch

(18-20 minutes).

2 For lemon syrup, bring lemon

juice and sugar to the boil in

a small saucepan, stirring to

dissolve sugar. Cool briefly. Poke

holes in cakes with a skewer,

then pour warm syrup over them

(make sure the syrup isn’t hot

or the cakes will break down).

Soak cakes until ready to serve.

3 For mascarpone frosting,

whisk ingredients in a bowl

to firm peaks (1-2 minutes).

Refrigerate until required.

4 For candied pistachio

nuts, preheat oven to 150°C.

Soak nuts in sugar syrup in a

bowl (5 minutes). Drain, then

spread nuts over a tray lined

Lemon polenta cakes with pistachio nuts and mascarpone

MAKES 10 // PREP TIME 20 MINS // COOK 40 MINS (PLUS SOAKING, COOLING)

“Sicily is synonymous with citrus, in particular lemons and oranges, and some of the best pistachio

nuts in the world come from the island, too,” says Koludrovic. “I love playing with this recipe using

the best citrus I can find, especially blood oranges, Meyer lemons and bergamot, when I’m lucky.”

with baking paper and bake

until golden and crunchy

(15-20 minutes; the oil in the

nuts means that while warm

they’re soft, so cool a couple to

test for crunch). Cool completely,

then coarsely chop.

5 Remove paper from cakes,

pipe mascarpone frosting

generously on top and serve

scattered with chopped candied

pistachio nuts. Cakes are best

eaten the day they’re made.

NoteThese cakes can be

made in advance and frozen,

unsoaked and unfrosted, for up

to three months, or refrigerated

for up to a week.

Polenta cakes

All props

stylist’s own.