Name: Valentines Shortbread with Raspberries and Chantilly Cream
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 15
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 260g Plain Flour; 160g Butter – cold and cubed; 80g Caster Sugar; 1 Whole Egg; 1 Egg Yolk; 300ml Double Cream; 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract; 70g Icing Sugar; 100g Raspberries; 100g Blueberries (or other fruit to your choosing)

Description

These Valentines shortbread biscuits are simple, buttery and made for sharing. Sandwiched with softly whipped Chantilly cream and fresh raspberries, they make a beautiful yet easy Valentine dessert recipe that feels special without being complicated.

The shortcake dough comes together quickly with plain flour, butter and eggs, then chills before baking into delicate homemade shortcake biscuits. Once cooled, they are layered with sweetened cream and fruit for a classic raspberry and cream shortcake that is light, comforting and quietly impressive.

Perfect for Valentines Day, afternoon tea or a simple family pudding, this recipe is reliable, affordable and made with ingredients you likely already have in the cupboard.

Instructions

For the shortcake cookies, you need to place the flour and butter in a food processor and blitz up until it resembles breadcrumbs. If you don’t have a food processor you can rub in the flour and butter using light fingers until it gets to the same consistency.

Then place the caster sugar in and quick blitz or mix to combine. Then add the whole egg and the egg yolk, quick blitz or mix again and it should come out like a dough. Place this dough in cling film and put in the fridge to cool. It will need a good half an hour in the fridge. If you skip this step, you are just going to get into one heck of a sticky mess.

Mean while at this point pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees centigrade.

Once the dough has cooled in the fridge, roll it out onto a floured surface, about 0.5cm thick. Using a 7-8cm cookie cutter cut through the dough. In the photo I have done heart shaped ones for Valentines. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Cook them for around 10 minutes. They don’t want to be golden but cooked through.

Once they are out of the oven DO NOT TOUCH them. Step away and let them cool a bit before you transfer them to wire rack. They then firm up. If you touch them before they have cooled down, they will break. They are lovely as they are, but if you want to make Raspberry and Chantilly cream shortcake stacks, then follow the next steps.

First make sure the shortcake cookies are properly cool, or you are going to end up with a runny mess!

Take the double cream, vanilla extract and icing sugar and whisk up until firm. This could take a little while, so be patient.

Then take a shortcake cookie, and pipe some of the cream mixture into the centre. Do not go towards the outside too much, as the weight of the next cookie on top, will push the cream towards the edge anyway. You can see this on the video I have done. Place some raspberries and blueberries onto the cream, then add a further shortcake cookie. Do another layer with the cream and fruit, then add a final shortcake cookie. Dust with a little icing sugar over the top.

Valentines Shortbread With Raspberries And Chantilly Cream