Blackberry Jam Crumble Shortbread
I am new to shortbread and I was looking through my books and came upon this recipe there was no picture to go by so I decide to do my own. I must say that the blackberry jam made it for me.
Don’t you love it when you learn something new, I learnt about the ‘thread stage’, this jam needs to reach this stage and then you will know it is ready. It is when you take your spoon out of the jam, making sure it is lightly coated. Let it cool (don’t be too eager to tough it, it is quite hot), touch the jam with your forefinger then gently squeeze your forefinger and thumb together, when you pull them apart there should be a thread of jam between them and this is when your jam is ready.
Loosening the top of the shortbread will help the jam to stick.
I did my in a 20 x 20cm roasting tin as this is all I had but I do suggest a bigger one as suggested in the recipe below.
I have not tried a huge amount of recipes from this book – JOHN WHAITE BAKES AT HOME but I do plan on trying some more as some of the recipes really make my mouth water.
You can of course by the jam and use that instead of making your own.
(Recipe adapted from JOHN WHAITE BAKES AT HOME).
Blueberry Jam Shortbread
Ingredients
- Jam
- 200 g Blackberries
- 200 g Caster Sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon lemon juice
- Shortbread
- 300 g Flour
- 200 g Butter Softened and cubed
- 100 g Caster Sugar
- Crumble Topping
- 50 g Butter cubed
- 75 g Flour
- 30 Caster Sugar
- 20 g Oats
- 20 g Ground Almonds
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan place the jam ingredients over a high heat. Stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved and the berries start to release their juices. Keep cooking and stirring the jam until it has thickened and has reached the 'thread stage' start checking after 5 minutes. Poor into a bowl and allow to cool.
- Grease and line a 20 x 30cm roasting tin.
- Preheat the oven 180°C
- Place the shortbread ingredients in a freestanding electric mixer bowl, with a paddle attachment, on a low speed mix the ingredients together. Tip this mixture into your roasting tin and press down evenly. With a fork scrape over the top to loosen the surface a little bit then spread the jam over.
- For the crumble topping, with your hands rub the flour and butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the Sugar, oats and the ground almond and mix it all together. Sprinkle this over the jam and cook for 35 - 40 minutes or until lovely and golden. Allow to cool before cutting and then cut into squares.